Loves Artwork
by PinkSpiderFelix
Summary: Love is like an Artwork, it either lasts or goes out with a Bang! After not seeing Deidara for five years, Leiko is all but a little weary to start a new relationship with him.But trouble strikes when all her memories fade to her escapades with the Uchich
1. Chapter 1

**Loves Artwork - Has been a fun writing task, ending with 26518 words at last count. I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. However, I do own Leiko Sanigaku and the ANBU Special Forces Team. As you read on, you will find that Deidara does not say 'un', this is because I felt it interrupted the emotion prevailed by my writing, and adding in 'un' was going to be a death sentence. Yes, Hidan does swear a lot, but that's him. To be able to tell the difference between flashbacks and realtime, they are separated by '---' also flashbacks occur in _italics. _****In total this has taken just under a week to complete. Thank you for taking the time to read this.**

* * *

_She watched as the elegant clay bird fly over her head, she saw the strange man sitting upon the creature as it landed in the clearing on her right. She looked away as the dust flew up and pricked her neck, the stabbing pain clearing her thoughts of everything but Deidara._

_She could hear Deidara growing closer, she kept her eyes shut and and took a deep breath as his arms wrapped themselves around her, his hands nipping at her bare stomach. He's breath grew closer as he nibbled on her ear._

_"Deidara..." She softly moaned._

_Deidara's carefree expression changed dramatically "I thought I told you not to come back here!" He yelled pushing away from her._

_"But Dei! I wanted to see you... Before you left..." She whispered in a small voice._

_"I know... I just don't want you getting caught up in this!" He yelled, he was glad she had come really, he didn't want to leave her._

_"I don't care if I get involved! I love you!" She said, her whisper becoming more of a cry_

_"Well, I don't think I love you." Deidara said, with a uncaring tone, it pained him to say it, but if he got her to hate him, it would be easier for her to get over him._

_Hurt spread across her face, and she could feel her heart break in two._

_---_

She now found herself walking towards Tsunade's office, the memories of her past flooding her memory. She had always wondered if what Deidara had said was the truth, or whether he had merely said it to make her hate him, so that he could leave and so she could easily get over him. But which ever way it was meant to mean, she hadn't forgotten about him, all these years later and the memory still lived on in her mind as if it was yesterday.

"Leiko! Have you been drinking? You seem more out of it then me!" Tsunade had called out, stopping the thoughts in her mind.

"I don't drink." Leiko said shaking her head.

"Oh, so I'll just put away the sake then shall I?" Tsunade said shaking the bottle in front of Leiko's face.

"I have no problem if you have some, but personally I will not be partaking in your pastime." She said taking a seat on the opposite side of Tsunade.

"Good, because I was going to have some anyway. Now what is that you need to talk to me about." Tsunade said pouring herself some sake.

"I've decided to resign as captain of-"

"YOU CAN'T!" Tsunade yelled over the top of Leiko.

"I've had enough with being captain of my special forces as part of the ANBU" Leiko said shrugging.

"Leiko, you love your job. I've seen you on the hunt. There's something bigger here, I saw and heard reports off various ANBU captains and team members that you were reluctant to take the case of tracking down one Deidara of the Akatsuki as he was spotted not to long ago." Tsunade looked up and saw the pained expression on Leiko's face, "Have I missed something here?"

Leiko remained quiet for a moment before taking a deep breath, "I can't... I can't do it..."

Tsunade looked at Leiko for a moment, "Leiko, you refused the mission. I need to know why. If you're afraid, I understand, but the Akatsuki Organization have to be aware that we will send our best ninja up against them."

"I'm not afraid of anything." Leiko said through gritted teeth, "Just I think I'm ready for a change..."

"I don't believe you." Tsunade said pushing further, just as Tsunade opened her mouth to say something else, Shizune ran into the room, "What is it?"

"Kakashi is here to see you. He says it's important." Shizune said

"Send him in, I'm not done with you yet Leiko, you can stay here." Tsunade said as Kakashi walked in.

"Oh, Leiko, I also need to talk to you." Kakashi said in a stern voice.

Leiko sighed and looked at the floor, "Why am I so important today? First I just want to leave the ANBU but apparently I'm not allowed to do that either."

Kakashi looked at Leiko stunned, "Why... Why would you leave? You're so good at it."

"YEAH WELL WHY DID YOU LEAVE?" Leiko snapped back, she picked herself out of her chair and walked out the door.

Kakashi and Tsunade watched as Leiko stormed out of the room, "There is something very wrong with her lately Kakashi. You seem to know her the best... Go see what's wrong with her."

"I can try. But I don't know her very well." Kakashi said facing Tsunade.

"What? From all the reports I've heard, you were always together." Tsunade said slamming her hands down on her desk.

Kakashi shook his head, "We only really started being around each other when she came back from one of her trips to the Hidden Rock Village with her mother. There was a boy there, one that knew her the best... She told me his name once."

"KAKASHI! Think, what was that name!" Tsunade said hoping that this could give her some insight into why Leiko was acting like this.

Kakashi thought for a long time, running through possible names, his eyes opened wide as he remembered the name, "Deidara!"

_---_

_There she was, running back through the rocks on her way back to the Hidden Rock Village, tears streaming down her face. She could hear the faint sounds of Deidara leaving on his clay bird, he was leaving her and everything he knew behind to join the Akatsuki. She arrived at the gates of the village and ran into an ANBU on guard._

_"Watch it." The ANBU had said to her, pushing her out of the way._

_She had glared at the ANBU for only a moment before running away to find her mother, tears streaming down her face. To think that this could have all been avoided if she had done what Deidara had said, and not tried to see him off._

_"MOTHER" She had screamed at the top of her lungs when she reached the place they had been staying._

_"What is it dear?" Her mother had said pulling her into a hug._

_"I want to go and never come back to this place." She had said, hate filling her voice._

_"But I thought you loved coming here to keep me company while I wasn't working." Her mother had said holding her tight._

_"I did." She had said running up to her room, and throwing everything Deidara had given her onto the floor. The clay bird they had made together smashed into thousand of little pieces._

_"Leiko! What was that?" Her mother had called from downstairs._

_--_-

Leiko was looking at the broken clay bird on her bedside table, she had managed to put it all back together, except for one piece in the tail that Deidara had put so much effort into making perfect. She sat down on her bed and wished that she hadn't broken it, she felt unbelievably bad knowing that she couldn't get the tail right after all the work Deidara had put into it.

It was now that she decided that if Tsunade wasn't going to let her leave the ANBU she'd just get up and leave. She picked herself up off the bed, packed away some clothes, some solider pills, a few meals, her various weapons, she looked at the clay bird next to her bed. After a moment of thought she picked it up and put it away in another scroll, and with that she pilled everything else away into various scrolls.

Leiko found a piece of paper and wrote a note to the one person she knew would come looking for her. Kakashi.

She finished writing the note as there was a knock on her door, "Leiko. Let me in!"

Leiko did a check around the house, once she was certain she had everything, she picked up the last of her scrolls, equipped herself with her kunai, senbon, and sword and opened the front door.

Kakashi was standing in front of her, Tsunade on his right, and one of her ANBU team members on his left.

"If I had known this was going to be a party, I would have written notes for everyone." Leiko said putting the note in Kakashi's hand and running off.

"You go back to ANBU tower and get the rest of your team, and Tsunade, please don't go anywhere closer to Leiko's house. Who knows what traps she's set up in there now." Kakashi said opening the note in his hand.

"What does the note say!" Tsunade said trying to read over Kakashi's shoulder.

"Tsunade... Please, some space?" Kakashi said moving away, in the background he could hear Tsunade complaining about not being able to see the note.

_~ Kakashi_

_Don't come after me._

_It'll end in heart ache. I should know._

_I went after a friend once. Look where that got me._

_Captain to my own ANBU squad, and now hunting down the very man who made me this way._

_Knowing you, you'll have worked out who that is. I'm going to find him. Make him change his mind. Make him leave this village alone._

_Whatever it takes. Even if it means my life to save the village I have fought to protect for so long. Even if I make it back. I'm not sure if I'll stay here._

_Maybe go abroad. Go back to the Hidden Rock Village. See my mother you know._

_Oh, send anyone after me. And I'll have to take matters into my own hands._

_Consider this my _resignation_ from the ANBU squad, and Konoha._

_~ Leiko _

_(Oh, P.S. Art. Is. A. Bang!)_

"TSUNADE GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled as he ran backwards, the house he was moments ago standing in front of was now ablaze, burning down around him. This had been Leiko's family home, her father had died and she had inherited the house as there was no way her mother could get her to go back to the Hidden Rock Village with her.

"Kakashi, how did you know that was going to happen." Tsunade said picking some rubble off her shirt.

"Well, I told you her house would have traps... And it says so right here." Kakashi said pointing at the note.

"What else does the note say?" Tsunade said watching the house burn down.

"We now have an S-Rank Missing Nin on our hands. But I'd say that she's long since gone by now." Kakashi said watching Tsunade's jaw drop.

---

_She found herself at the gates of Konoha, clutching the small clay bird in her hands. She knew her mother would be somewhere behind her, so she ran towards her house at the other end. Along the way she ran into someone. It was a boy, a few years older than her. He helped her back up and saw the broken bird in her hands._

_"I didn't do that did I?"_

_She had shaken her head, "No I dropped it a little while ago. And I tried to fix it. But it didn't quite work."_

_"Well, even though it is broken... It still looks magnificent." The boy said looking at the clay bird._

_"Thanks... I made it a long time ago, with a friend of mine... I'm Leiko too by the way." She said holding out her free hand._

_The boy took hold of her hand and shook it, "I'm Kakashi."_

_---_

Kakashi was right when he told Tsunade that Leiko would have left the village, but what he didn't know was that she was just standing outside Konoha's gates. As one hyper active ninja had found her leaving and wanted to know why.

"Where are you going?" Naruto had asked seeming perfectly innocent.

"To find the Akatsuki lair. Now please, if you could get out of my way." Leiko said through gritted teeth, trying to get past Naruto.

"What's the rush? And why are you going by yourself?" Naruto said trying to see what Leiko was looking at.

"I need to make good ground before nightfall, and if I take my team of ANBU operatives, I think that we might just stand out a bit." Leiko's eyes opened wide as she saw Kakashi strolling towards herself and Naruto.

Naruto turned around to be face to face with one stern looking copy ninja.

"Naruto, would you mind stepping away from Leiko." Kakashi said in a chilling tone, it was now that Naruto noticed Leiko's forehead protector which hung around her neck, through the leaf village insignia was a long scratch. He looked up at her wide eyed,

"Leiko... Why?"

"None of your business Naruto." She shot back, watching Kakashi carefully.

"I think it is. You are now my enemy." Naruto said taking on a fighting stance.

"Naruto. Go tell Tsunade that I found her, tell her something like 'Kakashi is trying to get her to change her mind.', she'll know what you're on about." Kakashi said taking his eyes off Leiko for a split second.

In that split second, Leiko had taken off running, jumping through trees trying to make some distance between Konoha and herself. She didn't really expect to get all that far before Kakashi caught up, but in Leiko's mind, some ground was better then none.

"LEIKO! STOP!" Kakashi yelled out, bounding after her.

Leiko took a deep breath and came to a slow stop, "I told you not to come after me Kakashi."

"I didn't, I as actually looking for Naruto. But when I was told they had last seen him following you towards the gates of Konoha, I thought the opportunity to good to pass." Kakashi said catching up to Leiko, "Why are you doing this?"

"Change?" Leiko sighed thinking of her actual reason

"So, you're change is to go from ANBU Captain, to S-Rank Missing Nin?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, bit of a change isn't it." Leiko said with a stifled laugh.

Kakashi looked at his friend for a moment before laughing, "Leiko come home."

She shook her head, and looked at the ground "I can't... Not while..."

"Not while Deidara is our main target. I understand, I do. But to become a missing nin just to escape?" Kakashi said trying to get closer to Leiko.

"It was the only way... Tsunade wasn't going to let me leave the ANBU, especially with Deidara hanging around. And I thought... That maybe I could get Deidara myself..." Leiko said taking another few steps away from Kakashi.

Kakashi gave up on trying to get close to her, "Then what were you going to do Leiko?"

"I was going to tell him... Not to come around the village anymore. And if that didn't work. I guess I'd work something out as I went along." Leiko said with a sigh.

"But why would he listen to you? You don't look anything like you used to... Would he even remember you?" Kakashi asked, he did have a point, why would Deidara even listen to her now, after all those years.

He was right, Leiko looked nothing like she had when he last saw her. Back then she had opted for short spiky hair, just so other ninja's couldn't grab hold of it. Now, she boasted long dark hair, with a side fringe and ponytail towards the top of her head. If anyone was to see her from behind, it was possible that she could be mistaken for a dark haired Deidara.

"I think he'll remember me... And if he doesn't, I'll just show him this." Leiko said pulling out the broken clay bird.

Kakashi's eyes opened wide, "The broken clay bird... The thing you treasured the most was made by him..."

Leiko nodded, "It's true. We spent hours making it. Only for me to throw it against the ground when he left." She said with a bitter tone in her voice.

There was a long silence between the two ex-ANBU operatives, before Kakashi looked up at Leiko and opened his mouth, "Come back with me. Please. I'll make sure you don't have to work in the ANBU ops anymore, I'll make sure you have nothing to do with finding Deidara." It was was almost as if Kakashi was begging her to go back to Konoha with him now.

"I can't. I'd feel useless, and I'm a missing nin now. I've made up my mind, I'm going to find Deidara myself." Leiko said shaking her head.

Kakashi watched her put the clay bird away again, "You're doing this for Konoha aren't you. To keep it safe... Away from the Akatsuki."

Leiko nodded, "Yes. I figure this way I can be of some help. I guess this is goodbye then Kakashi." she said putting out her hand just like she had done all those years ago.

Kakashi nodded and shook her hand, "Next time we meet... I guess it'll be in battle." There was a pause between the two, "Although... I hope you change your mind before it's too late."

The two smiled and bounded off in different directions, Kakashi back towards Konoha, and Leiko off in search of Deidara.


	2. Chapter 2

---

_The two young ninja's had been hanging out in increasing amounts, although they were on completely different teams, they always found time to hang out with each other._

_Kakashi had found himself being accept into the ANBU operatives, and leaving even less and less time to hang out with Leiko._

It wasn't long before Leiko found herself training day and night to be accepted into the ANBU operatives. The amount of time Kakashi and Leiko were together was cut short, with all of Leiko's training and all the missions Kakashi was sent on, the two of them never seemed to hang out anymore.

_Until one day a few months later when Kakashi came running over to Leiko's training spot._

_"LEKIO! I have some great news!" He had called out, Leiko had stopped training, a smile spread across her face, _

_"As do I!" She had yelled out in reply._

_Kakashi caught up to where she was standing, "You tell me your news first!" Leiko had said excitedly._

_"I've left the ANBU! We can now spend more time together!" Kakashi had said watching Leiko's smile fade away, "What's wrong?"_

_"I've been accepted into ANBU... To be Captain of my own special forces squad." Leiko had said looking at the ground._

_---_

From all her training for the ANBU Ops, Leiko found herself moving among the trees with an ease, even though she had been moving for hours. She was relying on all the news updates on Deidara's whereabouts that she had heard during her time at the ANBU Tower. Leiko came to an abrupt stop, she had found herself in a clearing, large enough to host Deidara's clay bird. She looked around for the familiar signs that the ANBU left when they searched an area, after a moment of looking, she came to the conclusion that the ANBU squads had not pinned this place as being one of Deidara's camp sites, meaning that there was a large possibility that Deidara would chose this place to set up camp for the night.

Leiko climbed to a higher branch of a tree, out of sight from anyone on the ground, but still a good amount of cover from anyone flying overhead on giant clay birds. She leaned back on the trunk of the tree and used it as a back rest, if she knew anything about Deidara, he would be flying at night, and nightfall was still a couple of hours away.

She was on high alert starting from the moment she walked out of Konoha, even if the ANBU hadn't been to this spot, it was likely that they would find this clearing before long. Leiko found herself getting rather hungry, she looked up at the sky it was getting close to sundown but she still had enough time to eat before she expected Deidara to appear in the clearing, that is, if he was to appear in this clearing.

Leiko finished her meal, just as the sun had gone down, she felt refreshed after eating, so if it came to it she would now be able to fight Deidara with a lot more ease. She hadn't seen Deidara in about five years, and she wondered what time had done to him, she wondered how much stronger he had become, but most of all she wondered if Deidara remembered her.

The sun had completely set, and she was wide awake and alert, she was ready to make a quick get away if she sensed any ANBU Operatives. Before long, she was graced by the presence of two people bickering on the back of a magnificent clay bird, they climbed off and the clay bird shrunk and was put away for later. She climbed closer to the edge of her branch, and strained her head, in order to hear what they were talking about.

"... Did you see the explosion! And it wasn't even me! Whoever did it knows something about art." She sighed at the sound of his voice, it hadn't changed at all over the years, and he's view on art hadn't changed at all.

"Art should be everlasting, something that can withstand time!" The other said back, his view on art interested her, although she still agreed with Deidara. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but she stood up on her branch and called out "Art is only beautiful for the first moment you see it. However if it fails to do that, it is not worthy of being called art."

"Your view on art is interesting, however, it does not solve the problem of who you are!" The man who had been bickering with Deidara called out.

Leiko jumped down from her branch on the tree, and came face to face with a shocked Deidara, "Ask Deidara, he should know."

The man looked at Deidara's face, and then back to Leiko, "Don't tell me I have two Deidara's to put up with now." He said commenting on how Leiko looked.

"You're one to talk." Leiko snapped back looking at the man, "Deidara, if you don't shut your mouth, you'll catch a fly."

Deidara snapped out of the trance he was in, and a stern look appeared across is face, "I thought I told you not to get involved with me anymore!"

"Oh so the blonde can talk!" The other man said starting to get interested in the events happing in front of his eyes.

"Either way Dei, I would have been involved. Either as an S-Rank Missing Nin, or the ANBU Captain I left behind." Leiko said watching the shock return to Deidara's face.

"S-S-S-RANK MISSING NIN! What happened to you Leiko!" Deidara finally said.

"Oh her name is Leiko." The man said looking at her, "And she's an S-Rank Missing Nin, this is interesting."

"So, you know my name. What's yours. Deidara doesn't seem to be able to talk." Leiko said facing the man.

"My name is Sasori, I believe art should be everlasting." Sasori said ignoring Leiko's outstretched hand, "Why are you here?"

Leiko looked from Sasori to Deidara and back to Sasori, "I came looking for him." She said pointing at Deidara.

"M-Me?" Deidara said looking at Leiko, "... Wait. Was that your house... The explosion?"

Leiko nodded, "How else would the art in my house go out with a bang? I've come to tell you, that if you don't leave the village of Konoha alone, they will send out their best ANBU Operatives, and I know all of them well, and they will kill you."

"This? Coming from an S-Rank Missing Nin! Priceless!" Sasori called out.

She glared at Sasori, "It was the only way I get possible see getting out alive of being Captain of my own Special Forces ANBU Team. And I was ready for a change, just like my dear friend Deidara here did, just five years later."

"Leiko... This is all my fault." Deidara cried out, Sasori and Leiko turned and looked at him, "I didn't mean what I said all those years ago, I said it so it was easier for you to move on... I hurt to much, I wanted to turn around and tell you that it was all a lie, but you had already run off."

"I'm starting to wonder why we have a TV at the Akatsuki lair now. We just need to pair Deidara off with girls from his past." Sasori said watching with slight interest.

"This is the only girl from my past!" Deidara said with a stern voice to Sasori.

"And I can finally see who you model your looks after!" Sasori replied, Leiko looked to the ground.

"... Actually, I look like Dei..." She said quietly, "When Dei left... I had short hair like you Sasori."

"Ha! That's something, a girl modeling their looks after a girly looking boy!" Sasori cried out, he was finding the whole thing brilliant.

The was a silence between the two old friends which was filled by Sasori's faint laughing.

"Leiko... You need to leave. This is official Akatsuki business, it does not concern you." Deidara said wishing Sasori would stop laughing.

Leiko pulled out the small clay bird and gave it to Deidara, he looked at it puzzled for a while, "Why is it broken?"

She looked at the ground and backed away, "It broke when you left. Like my heart."

Sasori's laughter rang out again, "Oh Dei! Oh Leiko!" Sasori imitated, "Let her stay! She says she was captain of her own Special Forces ANBU Team, I'm sure Leader-sama will have some use for her."

"Sasori, shut up. And it's only an ANBU Team." Deidara said, as Leiko scoffed, "What?"

"You obviously haven't heard of one then." She watched Deidara shake his head, "Well, a Special Forces Team, is a team of the best of the best ANBU operatives there are, and the Captain has to be someone even better. The Captain is hand chosen by the Kage, and will do anything to protect the village and the people in it." She said looking at Deidara again.

"See Deidara, this is why I think Leader-sama will enjoy having Leiko here on our team. Especially if she is telling the truth, she will be loaded with secrets about the village." Sasori said watching as Leiko nodded her head.

"I don't want her part of the Akatsuki." Deidara huffed, "She hasn't done anything, so she can go back to her village!"

"He is right, Kakashi and Tsunade have left the door open for me to return. But I am not intending to. I have had enough with the way they seem to be constantly living in fear. And if I do return, it will be to infiltrate and bring information back to you." Leiko said with a slight bow of the head.

Deidara and Sasori stood in thought for a moment, "Okay... Fine. You can come back with us." Deidara finally said.

"Good, because I can feel ANBU Ops, roaming around." Leiko said getting ready to flee.

"... How did she do that?" Deidara whispered to Sasori.

"She would be trained to be able to tell the difference between ANBU, Missing Nin's and villagers." Sasori said climbing onto the clay bird Deidara had just created.

---

_She could feel her heart pound and the seams she had built up had ripped back open. The words Kakashi had just spoken, rang out through her ears "I've left the ANBU" was all she could hear._

_After all her hard work, to be told it was useless, was the worst thing that Kakashi could spring on her. She was feeling faint, and Kakashi's worried face was slowly blacking out._

_She could hear the faint whispers of "Leiko! Leiko! Snap out of it!" _

_But she couldn't shake the thought of being alone again, after all these years._

_She had finally opened her eyes and found herself in Kakashi's arms, a relieved look was on his face, "Leiko... Are you okay?"_

_She had nodded, and stood up, "Be part of my special forces."_

_Kakashi looked away, "I'm not sure I can."_

_"But you're the best ninja I know! I'm ordering you to be in my team!" She had called out._

_Kakashi shook his head, "I don't think I'm allowed to, now that I've left the ANBU."_

_Pain flooded her heart again, "Oh... Well then, I'll just quit to!"_

_"No! You can't! You're a brilliant ninja, and I couldn't think of that position going to anyone else! Please? For me?"_

_---_

She was now looking at Sasori, he was watching the landscape fly past, as if taking it in for a picture.

"Stop watching me." He said facing her.

"I'm not, I'm looking past you." Leiko mumbled under her breath.

"This is art," he said motioning around him "It's lasted through time, still as beautiful as the day it was planted."

Deidara opened his mouth to speak, but Sasori cut him off "Deidara, I was asking your girl friend here, not you."

Deidara immediately looked down, Leiko could guess that he was blushing.

"I do agree that it is beautiful, and will stand for another million years," Sasori's face lit up, "However, I think it has been done to death, and that it needs to go out with a bang..." She laughed as Deidara's face lit up.

"I'm not sure what to think of your taste, you seem confused, as to work out whether things should last, or should be over in a moment. And this is what makes you interesting to me." Sasori said watching Leiko.

She nodded, "I see where you are coming from with this. But in this world, some things are meant to be cherished, and somethings are meant to be forgotten, and what better way to do it, then go out with a bang?"

"But then aren't they remembered?" Sasori said with a questioning eye.

"Only if they were worth remembering." Leiko retorted looking at Deidara.

"And if they're not, they go out with a bang anyway!" Deidara chimed in.

"Deidara, although I never do agree with your taste in art, you do have a girlfriend here that I can agree with." Sasori said watching Leiko, "But I am yet to be convinced whether she is good enough for you."

Leiko felt her face go a little red, she wondered if Deidara had worked out that what she was saying about art, was very much true to how she felt about him, whether it was worth coming back to see, or if she should have left it alone.

"Leiko, we are almost back at the base. Leader-sama will want to hold a meeting with you right away." Sasori said when he could see the clearing they normally landed in.

Leiko nodded and held on as the clay bird started to descend, "Where can I find him?"

"I will take you straight away, Deidara doesn't seem up to it." Sasori replied climbing down off the clay bird.

Leiko followed the two to a boulder, which with a few hand signs moved away and allowed them to walk in.

---


	3. Chapter 3

---

_It came to the moment where she had to choose her own team. She had reasoned with the Hokage, but he didn't want to have anything to do with it. But from that she took, that if she really tried, she could get Kakashi into her team._

_But he had seemed rather unresponsive to her lately, she thought that maybe there was something he wasn't telling her._

_She read over the reports for various ANBU operatives, none of them really catching her eye, she would need to see them using team work in battle situations before she would choose them. She made a short list of operatives she could image working with and handed it to the Captain of the ANBU who would arrange the tests for her._

_"This list has one name on it Leiko!" The Captain had called out after her._

_"And that's the one person I want to work with!" She called back leaving the ANBU Tower for the night._

_---_

She was following Sasori into a dark room, which she assumed was Leader-sama's office.

"Sasori. Why are you here?" Came a voice from somewhere in the room,

"Leader-sama," Sasori started, two piercing eyes were now watching him, "I bring you what I think will be a great edition to the team."

"Deidara?" A woman's voice scoffed, "Sasori, Deidara is already part of the team."

"Konan. That is not Deidara. Look again." Leader-sama's voice rang out.

Leiko watched as a woman with blue hair showed herself, only to move back when she found out she was wrong.

"What use do you have to me?" Leader-sama said leaning forward, enough to stay in the shadows, but forward enough for Leiko to make out where he was sitting.

Sasori opened his mouth, to be cut off by Leiko answering the question, "S-Rank Missing Nin. Former Captain of my own ANBU Special Forces Squad. I have secrets of Konoha that you could only dream of. The door has been left open for my return, so I can easily infiltrate the place, and even if the door closes, I can get you in there so fast, they wont know what hit them."

There was a silence in the room while Leader-sama was thinking it over, "Are you trust-worthy?"

"She is very trust-worthy, Leiko just before alerted us to some ANBU that were trying to tracking us, and they were still miles away. And from what she has told myself and Deidara, no interest in going back to Konoha." Sasori said watching Leader-sama lean back in his chair.

"Very well, I have a feeling that we will become, very good partners with you in the Akatsuki." Leader-sama said looking at Leiko, "Konan show Leiko to her room, you are dismissed."

Konan walked towards the door and whispered in Leiko's ear, "Don't get to cosy here, Leader-sama will drop you in an instant if you do anything wrong."

Leiko watched Konan leave the room before she caught back up with her, "Don't worry Konan, I'm not after Leader-sama, keep him. But I do plan on staying here." She said as they reached her room.

She entered a dingy little room, with no window and by the looks of it, a bed that would even crumble under the weight of a fly, and a small bedside table. But she figured it was better than nothing. She pulled out the small clay bird and placed it on the bedside table, just for the table to collapse taking the bird down with it.

Leiko let out a small cry as she looked at the clay bird smashed around her feet. She crouched down to pick up the pieces, as someone else walked into the room.

"Fucking Deidara, what in Jashin's name are you whining about now!"

Leiko stood up slowly, only to hear the person laugh, "What the fuck have you done to your hair! I didn't think it was fucking possible, but you look even more like a fucking girl now."

"I'm not Deidara." She said turning around to face a man with shoulder length silver hair.

"Oh for fucks sake, I thought you were Deidara. I mean, fuck you look like him! But I guess 'cause he looks so fucking girly, he based himself off you." He said walking into the room, "I'm Hidan. Don't happen to be part of Jashin do you?"

Leiko shook her head, "I'm guessing you do though. With all Jashin necklace and all."

Hidan looked at her surprised, "You actually know about Jasin."

Leiko nodded again, "I did some research on it, I decided that if I was ever going to revert to a religious cult, Jashin would be the one to join."

Hidan smirked, "You should fucking do it, then we could sacrifice together, it might be interesting to have someone else in the house loyal to Jashin." He sat down on the bed, "Who the fuck are you anyway?"

"Oh, no one really. Just the newest member of the Akatsuki. Nothing special. I mean, I guess if I was I'd get a better room than this." She said pointing around her.

Hidan laughed, "What the fuck did you cry out about before, it wasn't a fucking mouse or something was it?"

"No, just this thing of mine broke." Leiko said scooping up the pieces and putting them down on the bed.

Hidan looked at the pieces in front of him, "What was it?"

"It was a clay bird, I fixed it once before. But I don't know if I'll be able to do it again." She said sitting down on the bed, the bed creaked under the weight of the two of them, "Fucking hell, not again." She said as the bed fell down.

The two of them started to laugh as they helped each other up, "Reckon, you can fix that fucking bird of yours?"

Leiko smirked, "Wanna put a bet on it?"

"Fuck, you're not a money whore are you?" Hidan said laughing.

"Nope. But I bet I can fix it." She said putting out her hand.

"Deal, fifty bucks says you can't fucking fix it." Hidan said looking at the broken bird.

"I have a better idea, I can't fix it. I join you in Jashin." Leiko said watching Hidan's eyes widen at the thought of it.

"And if you do fix it?" Hidan said his eyes narrowing as he started to wonder what she could possibly want.

"I'll think about it." Leiko said with a shrug.

"I'm not shaking until you fucking decide!" Hidan said watching Leiko.

"Fine, if I win. We trade rooms." Leiko said putting out her hand, Hidan let out a sigh and shook hands.

"Hidan, Deidara doesn't want to convert to Jashin." Another voice rang out, in the hallway.

"It's not fucking Deidara, Uchiha." Hidan called back.

"Itachi? Uchiha?" Leiko whispered, facing the door.

"The one and fucking only." Hidan said looking towards the door.

"Hidan, if it's not Deidara, than who is it?" Itachi asked stepping into the room.

"Leiko... Fuck. I don't know her last name." Hidan said looking back at Leiko.

"Sanigaku?" Itachi said looking at her.

"The one and only." She said stepping closer to Itachi.

"I wondered what happened to you." Itachi said smirking.

"S-Rank Missing Nin." Leiko said returning his smirk.

"And making bets on Jashin!" Hidan chimed in.

"Oh, and that, how could I ever forget!" Leiko said laughing.

"So what's the bet about?" Itachi said sounding interested.

"Whether or not she can fix some fucking bird that broke." Hidan said looking as if he's got it in the bag.

"And Hidan, what happens if she wins?" Itachi said looking at the bird.

"We trade rooms." Hidan said looking at Itachi who started to laugh.

"Bah, get packing Hidan. She'll be finished it soon." Hidan looked up at Itachi, "She's good a fixing somethings." Itachi said shaking his head.

Hidan looked at the bird and then back to Leiko, "Still don't reckon she'll fucking do it." He said walking out the door.

The two of them watched the angry Jashinist leave the room before Itachi turned and looked Leiko.

"Leiko Sanigaku... Boy have you changed."

"You haven't, much." Leiko replied.

Itachi shook his head, "At least I don't look like Deidara."

"Ohhh, low blow Itachi, low blow." Leiko said laughing

"Well have you looked in the mirror lately? You look just like him!" Itachi said laughing.

"Hey Itachi, you have purple nails." Leiko said walking towards the door.

"Low blow. Where you going?" Itachi said looking at her.

"Introduce me to everyone, please?" Leiko said giving him puppy dog eyes.

Itachi couldn't help but laugh, "... Hey if Deidara gives you trouble. Come to me."

The two of them left the room to find everyone else.

---

_"Leiko, you need to choose your team." The Captain of the ANBU was saying._

_"I don't like any of the choices here. None of them work well in a team and none of them seem to be good enough." Leiko said looking back through the notes she had taken during the tests._

_"Leiko Sanigaku, I promise you. These are the best of the best." The Captain said starting to lose his patience._

_"What about that Uchiha? Or Kakashi?" She said slamming her hands down on the desk, her papers flying everywhere._

_"Miss Sanigaku! You can't have Kakashi he is not a registered ANBU solider now." He said slamming his hands down on the desk._

_"What about the Uchiha!" She called out._

_"Fine! Have him! It'll do you no good though!" The Captain yelled back at her._

_---_

"... SHE MADE THE UCHIHA LAUGH!" Hidan was yelling in front of everyone else.

"Sure sure Hidan." Someone else called out.

"Itachi, cover me." Leiko said as they reached the doorway that lead into the lounge room.

"What do you want me to do?" Itachi said looking at Leiko.

"I need you to walk up next to Hidan, so I can sneak in behind you. When you get to Hidan, look stern, and angry, and ask him why he's talking about you." She said looking around the room, Deidara was nowhere to be seen, which helped the cause.

"And what are you going to do?" Itachi asked puzzled.

"I'm going to wrap my arms around Hidan and ask him why he's talking about me. And I need you to laugh." Leiko said getting ready to move off.

Itachi nodded and moved in front of her just as someone called out, "Ah, speak of the devil."

"Shut up Kisame." Itachi said taking his position next to Hidan.

Itachi had to calm himself down, he loved hanging out with Leiko for the pure fun of it.

"Hidan, what I do does not concern you." Itachi said feeling Leiko's arm brush up against him as she put her arms around Hidan.

"Hidan-kun, why are you talking about me?" Leiko said putting on a sweet voice that almost made her throw up.

"Hidan! Deidara seems to have taken a liking to you!" Kisame yelled out laughing, Itachi couldn't help himself anymore and he just started to laugh.

"Kisame, that's Leiko!" Itachi said catching his breath, as Deidara walked into the room.

"What's so funny?" He said looking at the Uchiha doubled over laughing.

"Leiko let the fuck go of me." Hidan said getting out of her grasp.

"Leiko! What are you doing!" Deidara said running over to where she was standing.

"We were just having some fun. Weren't we Hidan!" She said high-fiving Itachi.

"Oh..." Was all Deidara managed to get out.

Zetzu had chosen this moment to turn around and look at the scene happening around him, "We have two Deidara's now?!"

Kisame started to laugh along side Itachi and Leiko, "No. This is Leiko." Hidan and Deidara said at the same time.

Hidan and Deidara locked eyes, "How do you know her!" Deidara called out.

"I helped her break her bed." Hidan said winking at Leiko, she couldn't help but laugh at Deidara's angry face.

"Leiko! Tell me what's going on now!" Deidara demanded, even Sasori started to chuckle at the events unfolding.

"See Kakuzu, I told you we didn't need a TV now." Sasori said motioning for Kakuzu to pay attention.

"Look Deidara," Leiko said putting a hand on his shoulder, "Konan took me to this pretty ordinary looking room. I put the clay bird on the bedside table, and the table collapsed, breaking it again. Hidan heard and came in and sat on the bed. I sat down next to him, and the bed collapsed, and we laughed. It's as simple as that."

Deidara's expression started to soften, but Kakuzu called out "Don't forget the bet Leiko!"

Leiko glared at Kakuzu, she hadn't want to tell Deidara about that until later.

"Bet Leiko? Wanna tell me about that?" Deidara said pulling away from her.

"Hidan and me made a bet, about whether or not I could fix the bird. If I lost, I join Jashin. And if I win, we trade rooms." She said with a sigh, she saw the pained expression in Deidara's face.

"And I'm currently taking bets on who will win." Kakuzu added in.

Everyone moved over to where Kakuzu was, leaving Deidara and Leiko alone.

"Leiko... Why are you doing this? This isn't you..." Deidara said looking at her.

"Dei... I know you don't think that... But I've change..." Leiko said putting her hand back on his shoulder.

"But the Leiko I know, would never gamble with high stakes like that." Deidara said in a soft voice.

Leiko looked up into Deidara's eyes, she could remember the first time they had met, and remembered why, all those years ago she had fallen in love with him.

"Lei-chan..." Deidara started, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing..." She lied, "Just wondering why you look so much like a girl." she finished saying as she walked out of the room.

She stopped just outside the door when she heard Deidara start talking, "... How do you know her? It sounds like you do."

"Why does it matter?" She could hear Itachi say back.

"Does it sound to anyone else, that Deidara is threatened that someone will do something with Leiko here?" Sasori said, not to anyone in particular. The direction this conversation was going interested Leiko, there was no way she was leaving now.

"I-I... I just want to know!" Deidara called out, Sasori had hit the nail on the head. He was worried that someone would take her for themselves.

"If you must know, I respect Leiko highly as a person, and as a ninja." Itachi said, she smiled with this, she knew that Itachi held some respect for her, but it was nice to know how much.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Deidara shot back!

"Deidara, if you're not careful, you'll go out like your art, with a bang." Sasori said watching the agitated expression on Itachi's face.

"I just want an answer!" Deidara said looking at Itachi.

There was a long pause between the team, and she took this as her chance to walk back into the room.

"Deidara, ask the right questions, and Itachi will tell. He does not enjoy idiots asking the same questions." She said stopping next to Itachi.

"Wait, she knows Itachi that well?" Kisame said taking a seat on the couch.

"I wonder if they can do anything other than soap operas." Kakuzu said, working out the value of the TV now.

"Well then what should I ask!" Deidara said giving Leiko a questioning look.

"Anything like, 'Why do you respect Leiko so much?'" She said with a shrug of the shoulders.

Deidara shook his head at the two of them, "Why are you doing this to me Leiko?"

"Five years ago ring a bell to you?" Leiko started, "And it's fun."

She looked up at Deidara, she had obviously hurt him making reference to when he left, "Okay... Why do you respect Leiko so much Itachi?"

Kisame leaned over to Hidan and Sasori, who seemed to know a bit of back story, "What happened five years ago?"

"Fucked if I know. She didn't fucking tell me much." Hidan replied watching Itachi look for the right words.

"Kisame, I think you'll find that five years ago was when Deidara left to join us here." Sasori said, there was no doubt about it, Sasori was good at working things out.

"Deidara, I'm going to say this once, so listen carefully," Itachi started, he waited for Deidara to nod before he continued on with his story, "Well, back when Leiko first joined the ANBU, she was given the title of 'Captain - Special Forces Team, or Squad', depends who you talk to. And I believe that Leiko was somewhat, hard to get along with during the team pickings" Itachi looked over at Leiko who had gone quiet, "Well, eventually after a hard bargain, I was placed on her team, much to the ANBU Captain's distaste, as once in the Special Forces, I believe you are not allowed to be an ANBU Captain, and that's what I was originally going to be awarded, but because the Special Forces work above the ANBU and the Hokage to some degree, I was more than happy to accept the offer of being Leiko's team. Who I must say, made my last month in Konoha... A very interesting one."

There was a pause among the room, "You mean, you worked under her!" Kisame spat out.

Leiko shook her head, "No. When I was allowed to have Itachi on my team, I went and saw him immediately. I told him that I would treat him as an equal, and not as a subordinate, unlike the other two that would be on my team. I wasn't about to disrespect Itachi after fighting to have him on my team."

"And then Itachi went and played psycho..." Deidara said under his breath, at this Leiko's eyes brightened up.

"Ohhh Itachi! I just remembered, after you 'played psycho' as Dei put it, some of the shadier characters started up a betting pool on clans, to see who would 'play psycho' next. And a separate one for who would become the next S-Rank Missing Nin in the village."

Kakuzu's eyes opened wide at the sound of money, "How much was on you?"

"Well, just before I left, I placed a hundred thousand on myself. The guy controlling the bets wasn't all to impressed, when I scratched out the insignia on my forehead protector."

Everyone just turned their attention to Leiko, "What? Konoha has a massive betting industry, they'll get the money back before too long."

"I thought you said you weren't a fucking money whore!" Hidan yelled out, Leiko smirked at him.

"I'm not, but when the odds are that good, you can't help but put down a little bit of money." She said thinking about what to spend the money on.

"Why can I sense someone coming?" Leiko said looking around the room.

Hidan, Deidara and Itachi all stood around Leiko, "He'll becoming from one of these doors," Deidara said looking around the room.

"Who will be coming?" Leiko said, as a door flew open.

"Tobi." Grunted Hidan.

"Whooo have you got thereeee!" Tobi sang out.

"No one that concerns you." Itachi said looking at Tobi.

"BUT TOBI IS A GOOD BOY!" Tobi yelled out.

"Oh god, if I'm going to have to put up with that I think I'm going to shoot myself." Leiko said pushing through the three of them.

"Deidara-senpai?" Tobi question jumping on Leiko's back, "What have you done to your blonde hair?"

"Tobi, get off her." Deidara said pulling him off.

"But... If you're Deidara... Who is she?" Tobi said sounding puzzled.

"An old friend of mine, she's now be part of the Akatsuki." Deidara said smiling at Leiko.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Tobi," Leiko said putting out her hand, "I'm Leiko."

Tobi ignored the out stretched hand and went straight to a hug. "Tobi welcomes you. Miss Sanigaku."

The voice Tobi said her name in was different to the voice he had been talking in before, and what gave her the chills was that he had known her last name, when she was certain that she had never met Tobi before now.

"Well as fun as this is, I have things which need fixing." Leiko said walking away, giving Hidan a smirk.

"Once again, still taking bets on this!" Kakuzu called out.


	4. Chapter 4

---

_Their first mission had gone off without a hitch, Itachi and Leiko found themselves back at Ichiraku Ramen Bar, discussing what had happened._

_"Leiko, I wasn't sure about your choice with the other two members on the team, but they work well enough under pressure." Itachi had said, after ordering his ramen._

_"I know what you're saying. I wasn't to sure about them either, but they were the strongest and worked the best together when I asked for the tests... And didn't protest to my unusual testing habits." She had said back._

_"Do you think they are strong enough though?" Itachi had said eating his ramen._

_"No. But with the correct training, they will be up to my standard in no time." She had said, following suit of Itachi and eating her ramen._

_"What about me? Am I up to your standards?" Itachi had said after a brief moment of silence._

_"Yes. If you didn't, do you think I would be treating you as an equal in my team?" She had said as Kakashi walked into the bar._

_"I see you got your team together Lei." Kakashi said taking a seat next to her._

_She nodded, "But not without it's hassles. Captain wouldn't let me have who I wanted. But I managed to get Itachi out of his grasps."_

_Itachi looked rather smug with himself, "Good, because I see a long partnership ahead of us."_

_---_

Deidara knocked on her bedroom door,

"Come in." She replied deep in concentration.

"Wow... Hidan was right when he said your room was crap." Deidara said looking at the broken bedside table and bed.

"It's better than nothing," She looked up from the clay bird, "Whatcha need?"

"Dinner's been on the table for a few minutes, and we were wondering if you were going to come and eat with us." Deidara said looking at the bird in her hands.

"Yeah okay, I'm almost finished this anyway." She said placing down the bird, only to have it's tail fall off again.

"Why don't I just make you a new one?" Deidara said ready to pull out some clay.

"Because one that's cheating... and two, I don't know what I'd do without it." She said standing up and walking out the door. Only to stick her head back in the room, "Which way is the dinning room?"

Deidara laughed, "Follow me."

The two of them walked towards the dinning room and heard animated chatter about her and Deidara.

"What are they talking about?" She whispered to Deidara.

"When I left, we weren't talking about anything." He whispered back trying to hear what they were saying.

"... Guys, what do you really think of Leiko?" Sasori said speaking to the whole table.

"I think she's too good for that Deidara..." Itachi said looking away.

"Fucking Itachi... You've had you're chance, move over and let someone else have her." Hidan said shaking his head.

"But so has Deidara!" Sasori called out.

Kakuzu was amazed that they didn't even need Leiko in the room to have conversations that seemed like they were out of a soap opera, he would confront Leader-sama about selling the TV tomorrow.

"I hope you know that Deidara is standing right there." Zetzu said, wondering where the conversation would take them now.

"And me." Leiko said moving next to Deidara.

Kisame looked at her in shock, "How did none of us notice that she was there as well!"

"Kisame, she is a highly trained ninja, she can mask her chakra and her presence with a flick of the wrist. Don't go underestimating her." Itachi said, rather annoyed that he had to explain something like that.

Leiko ignored the conversation and took the free seat in between Hidan and Zetzu, and turned to Hidan.

"I need to set a rule about the bet with you."

"Did she just ignore our entire conversation?" Kisame said looking at Deidara who unfortunately could not do the same thing.

"What's the rule?" Hidan said looking worried.

"We need a third party judge, I was hoping for an unbiased one, who I thought could be Sasori. Since he saw the bird before it broke for the second time, and would know that the tail was already servilely damaged." Leiko said looking at Sasori.

"It would be my pleasure, I saw the bird well enough before to be able to judge it's new condition." Sasori said with a slight bow of the head.

"Are you telling me that you've fucking finished it already?" Hidan said pointing at her with a fork.

"No. But I thought I'd lay down the rule now." She said looking at the empty plate in front of her.

There was an awkward silence around the whole table before Leader-sama's shadow appeared on the wall.

"Sasori, Deidara. I have a mission for you."

Deidara looked at Leiko, "Where are we going?"

"Hidden Rock Village. It has come to my attention, that a high profile business woman, has found herself in a spot of trouble with us."

"Who is the target?" Sasori said looking at the hardened expression on Leiko's face.

"Mizuki Sanigaku."

"I'm not hungry anymore." Leiko said pushing her chair away from the table and storming off.

"You leave at once." Leader-sama said as he faded away.

Itachi, Hidan, Sasori and Deidara looked at the door Leiko had just run out of in silence.

"What's wrong with Leiko?" Kisame said looking at where she had been sitting.

Itachi looked up at Kisame and gave him a death glare, "You're pathetic."

"What did I say wrong?" Kisame said wondering what had brought on the sudden change in atmosphere.

"I'm going to go see if she's okay." Deidara said walking away from everyone.

"What did I do!" Kisame yelled.

"SANIGAKU IS LEIKO'S FUCKING FAMILY NAME!" Hidan yelled at Kisame.

Kisame looked down, "But she's from Konoha..."

"It's her mother." Itachi said leaving the table.

Itachi ran down the hall to find Deidara banging on Leiko's bedroom door.

"Lei... Can I come in?" Itachi said calmly.

"Why?" She snapped back.

"Deidara and I would like to talk to you." Itachi said pulling Deidara away from the door.

The door slowly opened and in front of them stood a very distraught Leiko, "Talk."

"Can we come in?" Deidara said putting his hands on Leiko's shoulders, she slowly nodded and let them into the room.

"Lei, I'm so sorry..." Deidara said pulling her into a hug, she let him hug her. She missed the feel of being in his arms.

"I spoke to Leader-sama..." Itachi said watching Leiko pull away from Deidara, "I tried to see if you could with them, Leiko. To see her one last time."

Leiko's eyes slightly brightened, she hadn't seen her mother since her father had died three years ago. Unfortunately, Itachi just shook his head, "Leader-sama... Thinks you'll just get in they way. Being family and all..."

She looked down at the clay bird, "Thanks anyway Tachi..."

Itachi smiled as Leiko used her nickname for him, it reminded him of all the times in between missions they had spent together.

A knock was heard at the door, followed by Sasori's voice, "Deidara, we must leave."

Deidara nodded and hugged Leiko once more, "I'm so sorry Lei..."

And with that Deidara and Sasori left.

"Are you going to be okay?" Itachi said putting a hand on Leiko's shoulder.

"I'm strong. I'll be fine." She said with a sigh.

"Well, you're stronger than a lot of people I know, they would have broken down and cried." Itachi said wanting to pull her into a hug so bad.

"Crying is a sign of weakness." Leiko spat out.

"But it's not always a bad thing." Itachi said pulling her into a hug.

"Tachi-kun..." Leiko started in a small voice.

"Yes Lei?" Itachi said stroking the back of her head.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" She said hiding her face in Itachi's cloak.

Itachi started to nod, "Of course you can."

---

_Itachi and Leiko were strolling around Konoha, sweets in hands, laughing about the previous mission they had gone on._

_"So much for you're extreme training Lei." Itachi said laughing_

_"I know, I thought they'd last longer than that after the training. Now I'll have to go back to Captain and choose some more team members." Leiko said shuddering at the thought._

_"Careful or they'll shut you down, for like a murder case or something." Itachi said trying to count how many ninja's they'd gone through on their team, he gave up when he couldn't count use his hands anymore._

_"Ah, face it. They just don't make them like us anymore Tachi." She said laughing as she pulled Itachi into Ichiraku Ramen Bar._

_A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her back, "Lei, I heard you went through more ninja's today on your mission."_

_"Yeah well, if they let me have my original team, maybe I'd be able to complete my missions without the added bonus of causalities." She said releasing herself from their grasp, turning around and facing none other than Kakashi._

_"Lei, I'm sorry I quit the ANBU, but you don't have to be acting like this." Kakashi said looking at the ground._

_"It's alright Kaka, I forgive you. And I guess I'm so set on completing my missions well, that when one of my team members dies... It just doesn't faze me as much as it would normally do" She said lifting Kakashi's head up, and giving him a peck on the cheek._

_"Lei, your ramen is getting cold." Itachi yelled out, in between mouthfuls._

_"Would you like to join us?" She said moving over to where Itachi was sitting._

_---_

"Leiko you need to eat something."

"**Or someone**" Zetzu's two sides said while she was sitting at the table.

"I'm not really hungry Zetzu." Leiko said pushing her plate away, it had been three days since Deidara and Sasori left.

"Where the fuck is Itachi!" Hidan yelled running into the room.

"Try is bedroom, otherwise I have no idea." She said standing up.

"Oh, Leiko, you're there. You're fucking coming with me." Hidan said grabbing hold of her wrist.

"But she needs to eat some**one**." Zetzu's black half chimed in before his white half could finish the sentence, but it was too late as Hidan had already dragged Leiko out of the dinning room.

"Hidan where are you taking me!" Leiko cried out, her wrist starting to hurt from the pressure he was putting on it.

"To find Itachi fucking Uchiha." Hidan said turning the corner into Itachi's room.

"Can you let go of me now?" Leiko asked pulling at her wrist.

"Fuck, yeah. Sorry." Hidan said letting go of her.

"What is it you want?" Came the chilling voice of Itachi.

"I've been fucking hearing things." Hidan said back.

"Go to Kakuzu then, I can't help you if you're hearing things." Itachi said shutting his bedroom door.

Leiko let out a snicker, "Hidan, what is wrong?"

"I've been fucking hearing things about you two." Hidan said in an accusing voice.

Itachi looked at Hidan and shrugged, "Like what?"

"That Leiko stayed with you the other night!" Hidan called out, causing Kisame who had just appeared from his room to turn back around and go back in it.

"Hidan... I'll stay with you tonight than shall I?" Leiko said wondering when Sasori and Deidara would be back.

"Does this solve your problem Hidan?" Itachi said looking down at Leiko.

Hidan paused for a moment, "I guess it fucking does..."

Leiko shook her head, "Well can I go then? I have something to finish."

"Yeah... Yeah... Go." Hidan said still not sure about what just happened.

Leiko walked down the hall and into her room, she only had a few pieces left to put on the clay bird and it was done. With Deidara gone, it was easier to fix, as there wasn't the chance of cheating, so she had been working hard on it when ever she got the chance. She placed the tail back onto the bird using twice as much glue when Itachi burst into the room.

"Ever hear of knocking?"

"Lei, now is not the time for jokes. Deidara and Sasori just arrived back." Itachi said grabbing hold of Leiko's arm and pulling her out of the room, still clutching the bird.

Itachi dragged her all the way to the living room where two very beat up Akatsuki members were half sitting, half laying on the couch.

"Oh, she fucking finished the thing." Hidan cried out when he noticed that Leiko was holding the bird.

Sasori opened his eyes, "Oh you have to! Bring it over here and I'll be the judge."

Leiko nodded and handed the clay bird of to Sasori "Careful, it's really fragile."

"I understand." He said looking over the bird, "The bird seems to be next to perfect. Sorry Hidan, you had best start packing."

At this Deidara looked up at saw Leiko silently rejoicing, while Hidan was far from that.

Kisame walked into the room just as Hidan stormed out, "What's wrong with him?"

"He just lost to Lei." Itachi said high fiving her, "Kakuzu, I won the other bet. Hand it over."

Kakuzu looked down at the pile of money he had collected from various members and sighed before unwillingly handing it over to Itachi.

"Thank you." Itachi said taking the money from Kakuzu.

Kisame looked at Deidara and Sasori, "Rough mission?"

Sasori looked at where Leiko, she was trying not to listen to the conversation.

"Yes..." Deidara said nodding his head, he looked over to Leiko who looked away.

"Come on tell me all about it!" Kisame said starting to get interested, Itachi punched him in the side, "Ouch! What was that for Itachi."

Itachi just motioned with his hand, Kisame looked to where Itachi was pointing, he saw the pained expression on Leiko's face, "She hasn't eaten for three days. We don't need you making it worse."

Deidara stood up and stumbled over to the kitchen and brought back some warm soup and placed it in Leiko's lap.

"What's this?" Leiko said looking up at him.

"Your mothers recipe..." He said taking a seat next to her, "Eat up. I bet you're hungry."

Leiko just looked up at Deidara, "Where did you get this?"

"Your mother... She gave me a lot of things for you... She was going to come and see you in Konoha this spring." Deidara said motioning for her to eat the soup.

"Oh... Was she okay?" Leiko said giving the soup to Deidara.

Deidara nodded, "She was well. Your room was exactly how you left it. I found this in the bin though." He said pulling out a photograph.

She looked at the photograph, it was one of her Mother, Deidara and her at the entrance of the Hidden Rock Village.

"Dei... I'm hungry..."

Deidara passed her back the soup, "Eat up Lei, you'll feel better afterwards." he put his arm around her and gave her a hug.

"Urgh. Can someone tell me what happened now! She's eating again so I think I can find out now!" Kisame said moving away from Itachi.

"Lei, is that the same soup you made me once?" Itachi asked looking at the bowl of soup and realising how hungry he actually was.

"Yeah, it is. Do you want some, Dei gave me loads." She said passing the bowl to Itachi.

"Aww, I wanted some of that!" Deidara said showing the spoon he had been hiding in his sleeve.

"You two can fight over it." Leiko said moving out of the way, she looked over to Sasori who was deep in conversation with Kisame.

"Sasori..."

Sasori looked up and saw Leiko standing right in front of him, while Deidara and Itachi were fighting over the soup, "Yes?"

Leiko paused while looking for the right words, "You wont wuss out and sweeten things up like Deidara will. So can you tell me what happened?"


	5. Chapter 5

---

_"Lei, hurry up. Father wont like it if we're late!" Itachi called out._

_"I'm sorry Tachi, it's hard to run in this." She called back, she wasn't joking, the heels and evening gown was indeed hard to run in, even for a ninja like her._

_"Oh... Sorry." Itachi stopped and picked her up and continued to run._

_"Thanks Tachi... This makes it somewhat easier." She said with a slight blush, tonight she was meeting the rest of the Uchiha clan, so she wanted to look nice, but nice stopped her from running fast when they were running late._

_"It's alright, we're here now." He said letting her down._

_"It's beautiful..." She said looking around the grounds._

_"Just like you tonight..." Itachi said leading her into the Manor by the hand._

_They walked into the Manor to be greeted by Itachi's younger brother Sasuke._

_"Nii-san! Nii-san! Dinner will be ready soon."_

_"Thank you Sasuke, where is Mother and Father?" Itachi asked poking him in the forehead._

_"In the dinning room I believe." Sasuke said looking at Leiko, "Who is that?"_

_"Sasuke, I'd like you to meet Leiko." Leiko put out her hand and Sasuke shook it,_

_"Nice to meet you Sasuke."_

_"Nice to meet you Leiko." Sasuke said before running off._

_"Come this way Lei, I'd rather go into the dinning room now than later." Itachi said pulling her in the opposite direction to the one Sasuke ran off in._

_Itachi pushed open the doors to a grand dinning room, his Mother and Father looked astounding in their wonderful expensive clothes._

_"Tachi, this is all so wonderful, I feel that my clothes will look like rags in front of your parents."_

_"Lei, you look wonderful. Stop worrying about what you're wearing." Itachi said clearing his throat, "Mother, Father, this is Leiko. She is the captain of the ANBU Special Forces Team I am on."_

_Itachi's parents stood up and walked over towards where they were standing, "It is a pleasure to me you Leiko," His mother and father said resuming their seats at the table, "Come sit down."_

_Itachi led Leiko over to the table and they sat down, "Tachi..."_

_"Yes?" Itachi said looking at her,_

_"Thank you." She said looking at the table._

_"So Father, who will be joining us tonight?" Itachi said still looking at Leiko._

_"Just about everyone, whether they arrive before dinner or after dinner is up to them." He said continuing to read the newspaper._

_"So Leiko, tell me. How did you become Captain?" Itachi's mother asked with a questioning eye._

_"Well, a dear friend of mine was accepted and I thought that it would be a great goal, so I worked towards it, I trained every day and night and I was accepted to be the first Captain of the Special Forces Team, the day my dear friend left." She said hoping that answered Itachi's mothers question._

_"Itachi, you never told me how you were put into Leiko's team." His mother asked, his father put down the newspaper starting to get quite interested in the conversation._

_"Well, Leiko wanted only the best of the best in her team, she failed everyone who tried out. The Captain of the ANBU Operatives and herself because of this got into a rather heated battle, eventually, Leiko left with me who was not actually shortlisted for the team much to the Captain's distaste." Itachi said thinking back over the incident._

_---_

"Has anyone fucking seen Leiko?" Hidan asked everyone in the lounge room.

"Why?" Kisame said looking up from his conversation with Zetzu.

"I need to fucking ask her something." Hidan said started to get irritated.

"Ask Sasori, he was talking to her last." Kisame said as Hidan left the room.

Hidan went to Sasori's room and found no one in there, of course there wouldn't be anyone in there. They were probably reporting to Leader-sama about the mission.

"Where the fuck could she be..." Hidan asked himself.

"Where could who be!" an excited voice buzzed.

"Fuck. Tobi." Hidan said, "Tobi, haven't fucking seen Leiko have you?"

"Is Tobi a good boy?" Tobi asked quite innocently.

"Okay fuck, Tobi is a good boy. Now tell me where the fuck Leiko is." Hidan said getting ready to deck Tobi.

"Tobi last saw her in the kitchen with Itachi." Tobi said running away.

"Fucking hell, I could kill that thing." Hidan said walking off towards the kitchen.

"Oh Tachi! You're not meant to put that in yet!" Leiko's voice rang out of the kitchen as Hidan arrived there.

"But I thought you said to put it in now Lei!" Itachi said back laughing.

"Too late now, I'll just have to put more of this in then!" Leiko said laughing.

Hidan burst into the kitchen, Itachi and Leiko looked at him, "Yes?" Itachi finally said.

"I need to fucking talk with Leiko." Hidan finally said.

"Whatcha need?" Leiko said putting some more ingredients into the soup.

"Umm, can we stay in your fucking room tonight? My room is hardly fucking big enough, and that gives me one more fucking night to pack."Hidan said, he could smell the sweet aroma of the soup floating towards him, "That smells fucking good."

"Yeah, that's cool with me." Leiko said putting the lid on the saucepan, "It should be ready soon. But you'll have to wait for dinner."

"Fuck yeah, oh and Leiko, I'm sorry." Hidan said moving back off towards his room.

"He's a strange one Tachi." Leiko said sitting down at the table.

"Yeah, look I'll clean up here Lei, you go and find Deidara..." Itachi said watching Leiko.

"Are you sure?" Leiko said looking up at Itachi.

Itachi nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I'm sure he probably wants to talk to you."

Leiko smiled at Itachi and ran off to find Deidara.

She found him sitting alone in his room, sculpting a beautiful clay bird, she knocked on the door and Deidara turned around.

"Oh... Hey Lei... Are you okay?" Deidara finally got out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That looks like a beautiful clay bird." Leiko said walking into the room.

"Oh it's for you. You weren't meant to see it till later." Deidara said putting it down.

"I can act surprised for you." Leiko said with a smile, "Itachi said you probably wanted to talk to me."

Deidara looked away, "Yeah... Your mother gave me a lot of things to give you. I'll give them to you tomorrow, once you're in your new room."

"Is that all?" Leiko said giving him a questioning look.

Deidara shook his head, "No... Your mother. She was certainly something wasn't she."

"Yeah, and thanks for bringing the things back with you." Leiko said giving Deidara a hug.

"It's alright, you meant a lot to her you know, she was so happy for you when she heard that we had been talking again." Deidara said with a sigh.

"You didn't tell her that I was in the Akatsuki with you did you?" Leiko said releasing him.

"No no, I told her that we had been meeting in secret. And that you were Captain of your own ANBU Special Forces Team, she was so proud of you... So happy that you were happy again... She seemed happy even to hear my voice." Deidara said getting a strange look from Leiko.

"Hear? Don't you mean see Dei? She said looking at him.

Deidara shook his head, "Lei... She's been going blind. She had this box ready full of trinkets and things ready to be given to you, so when she did go blind. She didn't have to worry about forgetting anything for the box."

"Oh... Is that the box there?" Leiko said getting up off the bed.

"Yeah, it is. You can have it now if you want. There's some other things as well, but I'll help you move them tomorrow." Deidara said laying down on his bed.

"Thanks Dei." She said leaning down and kissing him on the cheek, before she opened the box.

Inside the box was all sorts of special things that her mother had kept and had planned on giving her for a long time.

"Dei... Look at all the photos!" Leiko said going through them, they ranged from when she was first born, first met Deidara and when she left the Hidden Rock Village.

She continued to go through the box, pulling out little trinkets and pictures she had drawn over the years. There was one picture, that caught her attention, it was one of her, in what seemed to be water colour, but it had faded heavily over the years. She turned the picture over and written in neat handwriting on the back was a message from Deidara.

"Happy Birthday Lei,

I hope you have a wonderful day, I hope you don't mind. But I painted this with the water colours I got you.

I didn't have anything else.

Love Dei." Leiko recited, Deidara finally looked up, and looked at the painting.

"I remember that..." He whispered, "Lei... I have something else to tell you."

Just as Leiko turned to look at Deidara, Itachi came to the door, "Dinner's ready guys. Leiko, would you like to serve it, after all it was your mothers recipe."

"Yeah sure," She said jumping up off the bed, "Coming Dei?"

"Yeah... Coming..." Deidara said following them out the door.

The three of them walked into the kitchen to find everyone sitting down with big bowls of soup in front of them.

"I told you not to get any until Leiko got here!" Itachi said shaking his head at everyone.

"We couldn't fucking help ourselves, it smelt so fucking good!" Hidan shouted.

"It's okay, as long as everyone likes it, I wouldn't care if they served it to themselves an hour ago." Leiko said taking a seat next to Itachi and Deidara.

"Can we start now?" Kisame asked looking down at his bowl.

"Oh, I don't know..." Leiko said with a smirk, there was a groan all round, "Of course you can."

Everyone started to eat their meals quite happily, now and then someone would mumble about how good it tastes, and Kakuzu would ask how much it cost to make.

"Leiko, don't you like your soup?" Sasori said looking at her.

"Oh no, I do! It's very nice." Leiko said quickly.

"How would you know? You haven't touched it." Sasori said looking down at her plate.

"Oh... I guess, I'm just so happy that everyone is actually enjoying something that I loved to eat all the time as a child..." She said picking up her spoon and having some.

Leader-sama's shadow appeared on the far wall, "Leiko Sanigaku, you have been here for almost a week."

"Yes." She replied suddenly not feeling to hungry.

"You said that the door at Konoha would be open for you. No one outside the Akatsuki would know that you are here correct."

"Correct, are you telling me you need me to gather some information for you Leader-sama?" Leiko said looking directly at the shadow.

"Correct. I need you to find me a scroll, it is one about the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki and Shishou Fuuni seal holding the Kyuubi inside Naruto Uzumaki."

Leiko paused for a moment, thinking about all the scrolls hidden under the Academy, many times she had been sent down there to bring a scroll to the Hokage, "I know the scroll. It wont take long to locate. Unless they have been moved, it should still be under the Academy."

"My sources tell me they have not been moved. You may take one other person with you if you wish. You must leave immediately. That is all." And with that, Leader-sama's shadow faded away.

"Who are you going to take!" Deidara said getting his hopes up.

"I would rather work alone on this one, less chance of being associated with the Akatsuki." Leiko said standing up, "Hidan, you can keep your room until I get back."

"Thanks..." Hidan grunted.

---


	6. Chapter 6

---

_Itachi motioned for her to join him outside, he could see that the animated conversation she was having with Sasuke was slowly growing old._

_"That's very fascinating Sasuke, but I need a breath of fresh air, you don't mind do you?" Leiko said winding up the conversation_

_"No not at all, it's nice being able to talk to someone else besides Nii-san." Sasuke said leaving Leiko alone so she could follow Itachi._

_"What were you two talking about?" Itachi said once they were outside._

_"Nothing really, he was telling me his dreams about being the best ninja there is, like his nii-san." Leiko said walking next to Itachi._

_"Sounds like a riveting conversation." Itachi said with a laugh._

_"It was quite that." She said returning the laugh, "What are we doing?"_

_Itachi and her were walking further away from the Manor towards the forest on the outskirts of the property._

_"I would like you to meet someone..." Itachi said holding back a branch for her to climb under._

_"If I had known we would be doing this, I would have worn something more appropriate." Leiko said struggling to do anything in the clothes she was wearing._

_"Here, climb on my back. It'll be easier that way." Itachi said letting her climb onto his back._

_Itachi finally stopped running when he reached a valley where two statues laid face to face ready to battle. _

_"The Valley of the End... Why are we here Tachi?" She said climbing off Itachi's back._

_"I told you, I want you to met someone." Itachi said standing his ground._

_And ominous laugh rang out around the two of them, followed by a chilling voice "So this is Leiko Sanigaku."_

_Itachi nodded, "Is she not what you expected?"_

_"She is more Itachi. Her power is greater than what I thought it would be."_

_"Tachi, what is going on?" She said trying to find the source of the voice._

_"Tachi? Tachi! How cute Tachi. I guess I get the honor of telling her then." The voice said in a mocking tone._

_"I thought it would be best that way." Itachi said looking at Leiko with a smile._

_"What do you want me to do Itachi." She said, making sure not to use his nickname._

_"What do I tell her, just her part? Or the whole thing?" The voice said again._

_"Madara, just tell her, her part. It will be easier that way." Itachi said._

_"Madara... Uchiha... I'm honored. What do you need me to do?" She said with a new force behind her._

_"Ohh, power. I like her. Itachi needs you to take Sasuke for sometime in a few days. Take him out training, he needs to grow stronger, and we've decided that if you take him on, he will grow powerful in no time. Itachi tells me you put ANBU Operatives through training that they couldn't handle themselves, so we believe that you are the best person to train Sasuke." Madara's voice rang out._

_"I accept. It would be an honor to help train an Uchiha to reach his full potential." Leiko said with a bow._

_"If only there were more ninja's like you around." Madara's voice said slowly fading away._

_---_

She was finally starting to really recognise her surroundings, she passed through the clearing that she had found Deidara and Sasori, ANBU operatives had now been around the area, she could see the subtle markings on the trees, which to the untrained eye would go unnoticed.

She picked up some dirt and rubbed it all over her, she then drew her kunai and made some cuts all over her body, as to perceive the look that she had been in battle over the past five days. She would now make the slow and painful trip back to Konoha.

Before long she could see the gates, she moved into the middle of the path and started to stumble about, when she was certain that the guards could see her, she made herself trip and land on the ground.

She could hear over a radio, someone calling for a medical nin, and Kakashi.

She opened her eyes and found Kakashi sitting next her bed, "K-Kaka..."

Kakashi looked up and saw the faint smile on her face, "Lei... Where have you been?"

She looked away, "I found Deidara..."

Kakashi's eyes opened wide, "Did he do this to you?"

Leiko shook her head, "Sasori did... When I told them to leave. Deidara... He took my clay bird and made it explode, in front of my eyes..."

She tried to sit up, but Kakashi pushed her back down, "Well, the wounds they weren't anything that couldn't be fixed."

"I feel horrible..." Leiko said finally giving up on sitting up.

"Lei, this maybe hard for you to do, but can you tell me anything else about what happened?" Kakashi said pulling out a notebook.

"Playing detective now Kaka? What can't you do?" Leiko said with a laugh.

"Stop you from leaving apparently." He said with a sigh.

Leiko coughed and tried to sit back up again, "I came back didn't I?"

"It still took sometime," Kakashi started, "What took so long?"

"I needed sometime to think... I had that time, and I realised I was doing just what Deidara had done to me five years ago. Running away from his problems, and I didn't want you to go through what I had gone through..." Leiko said finally managing to sit up.

"But going Missing Nin?" Kakashi asked shaking his head.

"I knew that if I did that... You guys might let off a little, let me have some space." Leiko said with a shrug.

Kakashi just shook his head at Leiko, "You'll go to great lengths to do what's needed to be done."

A smile swept across Leiko's face, "Did I get Deidara to leave?"

"We haven't heard anything about him or Sasori in the past few days, so I'm going to say so. Mission accomplished." Kakashi said with a laugh, just as Leiko started to laugh there was a knock at the door, Kakashi and Leiko turned to see Sasuke standing there.

"Sasuke? What... What are you doing here?" Leiko said straining her eyes to see him.

"I came to see sensei... And I wanted to know that you were alright." Sasuke said looking down.

"I'm fine Sasuke, thank you for your concern." She said with a smile, Sasuke returned a half smile before addressing Kakashi.

"Tsunade wants you immediately. She needs to talk to you about Leiko. I'll stay here and keep an eye on her for you sensei." Sasuke said as Kakashi left the room.

"Sasuke, when I get out of here, I'm going to take you around the old training course. See if you've still got it." Leiko said making herself comfortable.

"You're on. Naruto sends his apologies, and when I take down Itachi, want me to throw some punches in Deidara's and Sasori's way for you?" Sasuke said laughing.

"Heh, if you wouldn't mind." Leiko started, "Sasuke... I'm so tired, do you mind if I go to sleep?"

"No, no, not at all." Sasuke said sitting down in the chair Kakashi had just been sitting in.

---

_The day had come that she would train Sasuke, she knew she was doing it for Madara and Itachi to help Sasuke reach his full potential, but other than that, she knew no other reason._

_Itachi had said that he would take Sasuke straight to the training grounds, and they would met her there. She looked up at the clock, she had twenty minutes before she was due there. _

_She grabbed a light breakfast and headed over to the training grounds._

_"Tachi! You're early." She called out._

_Itachi smiled, "We only just got here, thought you might be here setting up already. But I can see it's already done."_

_"No, I did that last night so we could get straight into training. You ready Sasuke?" Leiko said patting Sasuke on the head._

_"Ready as ever!" Sasuke called ready to get into it._

_"Thanks again Lei." Itachi said smiling at her._

_"Nah, it's okay. It'll be a nice change from having to deal with the ANBU." She said smiling at Sasuke._

_"Goodbye Sasuke, I'm going to go now. Have fun." Itachi said giving Sasuke a small hug._

_"Goodbye Lei, and don't work him to hard." Itachi said giving her a small hug as well._

_"I'll see you round." She said watching Itachi walk off, "OH! Itachi I almost forgot!"_

_Itachi turned around, "What?"_

_"Did you want me to bring Sasuke home?" She called out._

_"Nah, he can make his way home when he's ready." Itachi said with a smirk falling across his face._

_"What do you want to start with Sasuke?" She said looking down at the small boy standing in front of her._

_"Whatever I need to do, to be able to be as good as my nii-san!" He cried out._

_"Okay, we'll start with some stamina then, how long can you make this... this... kunai float for?" She said pulling a kunai out of her pocket._

_"Dunno! Lets find out." Sasuke said taking the kunai off her and focusing his chakra._

_"Starting a little early don't you think Lei?" said a voice off to her right._

_"You know, it can't hurt." She said turning around to face Kakashi with a class full of students._

_"What have you got Sasuke doing?" Kakashi said looking at him._

_"He is focusing his chakra, to see how long he can make the kunai float for." She said watching Sasuke._

_"But wont he run out of chakra before he even starts the real work?" Kakashi said after telling his students what they needed to do for the lesson._

_"No. This is how I train the ANBU. I drain a good part of their chakra, then set them through the physical and mental stuff. It sets them up better for battle. They'll have to learn how to keep an eye on their chakra levels somehow. And it'll let me see how far they can go once they can't use anymore jutsu." She said watching Sasuke concentrate._

_"Sounds mildly reasonable." Kakashi said looking back at his class, "Take a break for lunch?"_

_"Your shout." She said back putting her full attention to Sasuke._

_After a few hours of solid work with Sasuke, she saw real potential for a great ninja._

_"Sasuke! We're going to break for lunch!" She called out, she saw him shake his head._

_"No! I want to stay and train. Be great like my nii-san!" Sasuke called back throwing another kunai._

_She shook her head in disbelief, he really wanted to be like Itachi, and one day he could even surpass him if he kept up this vigorous training._

_"Sasuke! Itachi would have broken for lunch now. And plus, if you don't eat, you wont be able to become stronger!" She called out as Kakashi tapped her on the shoulder._

_"Okay Leiko!" Sasuke said joining her and Kakashi, "Where are we going to have lunch?"_

_"I was thinking... Ichiraku Ramen Bar, the food of champions!" Kakashi said laughing as Sasuke's eyes opened wide._

_"Okay, then after lunch Sasuke, I'll give you some targets to practice on, and then I think it'll be time for you to go home." Leiko said walking towards the ramen bar with the other two._

_---_


	7. Chapter 7

_---_

It was a few days after she had arrived in Konoha and she found herself sitting in Tsunade's office.

"... It's great to have you back Leiko. Kakashi was right, you'd never leave your village."

"I just needed sometime to think, thanks for hearing it my way." Leiko said shaking Tsunade's hand.

"Will you be joining the ANBU again?" Tsunade said offering her a glass of sake.

"No, I think I'm done with being in the ANBU. I'm not sure what I'll be doing at the moment, but I think I'll follow in Kakashi's footsteps and take on a three man cell or something." Leiko said watching Tsunade drink.

"You sure you don't want some?" Tsunade said pouring another glass.

"Very, do you mind if I leave now? I have to work out where I'm going to live. I can't stay with Kakashi the whole time." Leiko said standing.

"Oh yeah, go go." Tsunade said drinking some more.

Leiko left and made her way over to the training grounds, Kakashi had told her that he would be there with Team Seven, when she finished her meeting with Tsunade.

She walked up behind Kakashi and gave him a slight hug, "Found you."

"So you did, what did Tsunade have to say?" Kakashi said returning the hug.

"That she was glad to have me back, and then she started drinking." Leiko said watching Team Seven, "Sasuke has come a long way since I was training him that day."

Kakashi nodded, "He sure has. I think he's really grateful for that training as well."

"How can you tell?" She said looked at Sasuke.

"I've seen him out here at night, training by himself, everything he puts himself through just screams 'Leiko Sanigaku' training." Kakashi said with a slight laugh.

"How sweet," Leiko said with a laugh, "Do you mind if I take over? I want to see what they've got."

"No not at all, be my guest. Dinner?" Kakashi said calling Team Seven in.

"Only if it's your shout." She said looking at a rather miss matched team.

"Sensei is treating us to dinner!" Naruto shouted rather excitedly.

Kakashi shook his head, "I'm not treating you three to dinner ever again."

She looked at Sasuke who was eager to continue with training, "I don't believe that Miss Sanigaku, would call us over to make dinner arrangements."

"Sasuke you're so smart!" Sakura said looking at him.

"Correct. I'm going to train you today." She said with a smile.

Naruto backed away, "No no no! I've seen you're training, it's scary!"

"If Sasuke isn't scared than neither am I!" Sakura said moving closer to Sasuke.

"Naruto, if you can't keep up with the training, you will fall behind." Kakashi said looking at him.

"Can we start? I enjoyed you're training last time, this time better be good." Sasuke said pulling out a kunai.

"Ready!" Sakura and Naruto said after a moment of thought.

"Good," Leiko stared, "First up, we're going to see how long you can keep a kunai floating for."

"Easy!" Naruto said, Sasuke didn't seemed to convinced, he knew there was going to be a catch.

"Easy? Did I mention you'll be on a tightrope while dodging other kunai?" Leiko said watching Kakashi set up the tightrope.

Naruto and Sakura gulped and looked at Sasuke and saw the passive look on his face, "This shall be interesting."

"In that case Sasuke, care to show us how it's all done?" Leiko said walking over to the tightrope.

Sasuke nodded and made his way up the tightrope, he focused his chakra and let go of the kunai.

"Sasuke, you have five minutes to prove your self." Leiko said taking the kunai out of her pockets, Kakashi followed suit and started to throw them at Sasuke.

The first narrowly missed Sasuke, but he regained his composure and moved through the rest of the five minutes with little trouble.

"Sasuke, your five minutes are up. Congratulations, you have passed." Leiko started, "Sakura, you're up next."

Sakura gulped and slowly made her way up the tightrope, it wobbled with each step, and you could see that she was not regaining composure as easily as Sasuke had.

"Sakura! Concentrate!" Leiko called out, "When you're ready."

Sakura nodded and slowly, but surely regained enough composure to keep the tightrope from wobbling too much, and with moments the kunai was floating just in front of her hands.

She moved through the first few minutes with great difficulty, and Leiko could tell that it wasn't going to get any easier, she through one well placed kunai at Sakura's foot, 'causing her to lose concentration and fall off the tightrope.

"Tough luck Sakura, you still had three minutes left." Leiko said shaking her head.

"Three minutes! I thought I had gone for about ten!" Sakura said sitting down in a huff.

"Don't worry Sakura, with the right practice you'll be able to go for ten," She started watching Kakashi retrieve the kunai, "Naruto. You're up next."

Naruto looked around him, after watching Sasuke and Sakura doing it, he wasn't too sure how he would go.

"Okay." He said climbing up onto the tightrope, he wobbled as much as Sakura had done, but managed to get control of himself again.

"When you're ready." Leiko called out getting ready to take aim.

Naruto nodded and focused his chakra, the kunai started to wobbled and before long it was floating neatly just in front of him.

Naruto slowly but surely made it through, narrowly missing almost all the kunai. The minutes were ticking by, and Leiko could see the strain on his face to beat Sasuke, she was down to her last kunai and she threw it carefully at his hand, striking the target. The kunai wobbled and fell to the ground, Naruto climbed down disappointed and sat next to Sakura in a huff.

"So close Naruto, you had thirty seconds left on the clock." Leiko started, listening to Naruto groan, "Don't worry guys, all in all, you did well. I've seen ANBU Operatives fail that, so be proud of yourselves."

Kakashi walled towards the group after retrieving all the kunai, "What's next?"

"Target practice." Leiko said with a shrug.

"That doesn't sound to hard?" Naruto said quietly.

"Blindfolded, and moving targets, you'll be training your eyes to react to sounds. Because they'll be times when you can't actually see your enemies." She said holding out a blindfold, "Sakura, you're first."

Sakura took a deep breath and put on the blind fold, everything around her was pitch black, she strained her ears to hear the footsteps of her team mates moving around her.

"Sakura, we're going to be throwing kunai's at you as well, this is where the last test comes into practice, the concentration and the ability to dodge things, just this time you wont be able to see us, and you'll be throwing the kunai's back. In your hand you should have ten kunai's, once you are out, we will stop the test." Leiko said getting ready, "Start!"

Everyone started to move around Sakura, the first couple of kunai's she threw were misplaced and misjudged, shooting straight past where anyone had been. Sasuke threw a kunai at her feet, she moved just in time for it to hit the ground and miss her. This continued on for sometime, most of her kunai's hitting dead ends, kunai's were hitting her however in a great. She was down to her last kunai, and it was now that she truly started to focus, she threw the kunai, and it narrowly missed the top on Naruto's head.

Sakura removed her blindfold to see Naruto in shock, "Did I hit Naruto?"

"No, you narrowly missed him, but it was enough to send him into shock, that was your best placed kunai."

"Oh..." Sakura said sounding disappointed, Leiko gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry Sakura, with the right training, you'll be able to focus better. I'm starting to wonder what Kakashi here has been teaching you." She started, "Naruto you're up now."

Naruto took the blindfold off Sakura, and took his place in the middle of the training ground.

"You know the drill Naruto, Start!" She said watching Naruto truly focus.

He dodged the kunai thrown at him with some ease, only the occasional one would bounce off him, and his own kunai's were getting closer to people then Sakura's had. Leiko couldn't wait to see what Sasuke could do.

Leiko dropped her concentration for one moment, and Naruto's kunai flew right past her head, she regained her concentration faster then she ever had. There was no way she was going to look weak in front of Team Seven, let alone Kakashi.

Naruto came to a fine finish, throwing his last kunai right at Kakashi, who used a substitution jutsu to get out of the way.

"Well done Naruto, if Kakashi hadn't have used the substitution jutsu you would have had a direct hit, that was your best shot. Your dodging skills were adequate," Leiko started, "Congratulations, you passed this test."

Naruto beamed proudly, "It wasn't that hard."

Kakashi smiled proudly at Naruto, while Sakura was quite disappointed, Leiko guessed because Naruto had passed something she had failed.

"Sasuke, you're up. Remember to keep focused and you'll do fine." Leiko said handing Sasuke the blindfold.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances, "What was that meant to mean." Naruto whispered to Sakura.

"I think... Leiko thinks that Sasuke isn't really concentrating..." Sakura whispered with a shocked look, "If that's Sasuke not concentrating, I wonder what's he like when he is concentrating!" She said a little too loudly.

"Sakura, if you could please be quiet." Leiko said sounding rather irritated, right now she was quite disappointed in Sakura's performance, and she was not going to tolerate Sakura talking.

Sasuke moved into the middle of the training field.

"Sasuke! Get ready! Start!" Leiko called out, throwing a kunai right by his feet, with ease he moved out of the way.

Kunai by kunai rained down upon Sasuke, and he was moving through them with an ease, he was returning them with the same ease, Sakura and Naruto were having trouble dodging Sasuke's returned kunai's from the sheer speed in which they travelled. Before long, the test was finished and Sasuke looked very pleased with himself.

"Well done Sasuke, you were finally concentrating."

"I remembered what you told me last time, and I put it into practice." Sasuke started, "How'd I go?"

"You moved with ease, and managed to throw all your kunai's exactly where someone was standing. You passed." Leiko said with a smile.

"Please don't tell me there's more..." Sakura mumbled to no one in-particular.

"Sakura, you should feel honored for getting the opportunity to train under Miss Sanigaku." Sasuke said looking down on Sakura.

"If you wish, we can stop the training." Leiko said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I'm not going to stop until I beat Sasuke!" Naruto called out, Sasuke just shrugged.

"In that case, why don't you fight each other." Leiko said watching their reactions, "My training is about stamina and seeing how long you can go when you have no jutsu left to use."

Sakura's face fell, "You mean we could have used jutsu in that last test!"

Leiko nodded, "Yes, but the other part of my training is to teach you how to get around being reliant on jutsu, and to be able to know how much to use and keep enough stored up for later. So in that aspect, you all passed the last test to some degree, as you used no jutsu, meaning you can use it this round."

Naruto and Sakura looked quite proud when they found out that they had done something right.

"Miss, who am I to fight?" Sakura said noticing that the only people left were Leiko and Kakashi.

"You can fight me." Leiko started, "As I don't believe that either Sasuke or Naruto will be up for it after their fight."

Sakura looked rather frightened, there was no way she could win against an ex-ANBU Special Forces Captain, and she didn't want to look weak in front of Sasuke.

"Sakura, take her on. It would be great training for you." Sasuke said egging her on, a new power seemed to appear in Sakura, she nodded agreeing to the battle.

"Good. Although I do not believe I have fully recovered, I will not go easy on you." Leiko said turning to Sasuke and Naruto.

Sakura stared at Leiko, "... Not fully recovered, and yet she's agreeing to do this..."

"Naruto, Sasuke, you will have twenty minutes to be victorious over your opponent." Leiko started watching them take their fighting stances, "You can use any means of winning, just like in a real fight."

"Just not any forbidden jutsu's." Kakashi added in.

"Ready!" Sasuke and Naruto yelled out, and the battle started.

The two fought for a long time, jutsu's flying left, right and center, the two were wearing out fast, but neither of them would give in. They had resulted to using hand-to-hand combat. It was when Sasuke landed one strong punch into Naruto's stomach that the Kyuubi came out to play, an large amount of chakra floated around Naruto's body, and it was as if he had been given a new life to fight against Sasuke.

Leiko checked the time, there was still five minutes left, and she wondered how much longer Sasuke could take of the beating Naruto was now giving him.

The last minutes were long, and Sasuke was still trying to give it his all, but it was almost as if Naruto was feeding off Sasuke's punches, absorbing them, taking the least amount of damage. And then it seemed that it was all over, Naruto used his shadow clone jutsu, and did a full on assault on Sasuke, sending him to the ground, to be punched and kicked.

It was now that Sasuke activated his Sharingan, Naruto stopped mid fight and froze. Sasuke now had the upper hand, he had learnt to control his storage of chakra well enough, to make it seem like he had none left, Leiko was more than impressed with Sasuke.

"Times up, Sasuke is the winner, as Naruto did not manage to get out of his hold." Leiko said holding out her hand to Sasuke.

Sasuke shook it, "Well done. You won three out of three."

Kakashi congratulated Sasuke, and Sakura jumped up and down cheering, "Sasuke! I knew you could do it!"

"Naruto, it was anyones up until the last minute, if Sasuke hadn't done what he had done, it would have easily been you." Leiko said with a smile, Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"Since the match ended this way, Kakashi will take you both to Ichiraku Ramen Bar!" Leiko started, "The food of champions."

Kakashi looked at her dumbstruck, "What! I never agreed to this!"

"But you did say that it was the food of champions..." Sasuke said under his breath.

"Fine! But you owe me two dinners now." Kakashi said finally agreeing with Leiko.

Leiko turned to Sakura, "Ready?"

Sakura shook her head, "If you don't think you've recovered well enough. You shouldn't fight."

"I'll be fine. I pulled through helping in the other tests didn't I?" Leiko said watching Sakura carefully.

"Yes, but your aim was off in the second test." Sasuke said, he almost sounded like Itachi.

"Fine, Kakashi will just take all of you." Leiko started, "I'll meet you there."

---

_She was meeting with Itachi outside the village, he had asked her to just after the meeting with Madara. She had agreed quite happily at the time, but now she wasn't to sure, she had caught word about what Itachi had done, but she knew that there had to be a good reason._

_"Lei, you came." Itachi's voice said behind her._

_She nodded, "I heard what you did... Why?"_

_There was a pause between the two friends, "They weren't going after the full potential of their power." Itachi finally grunted._

_"Tachi... Is that... Is that why you had me train Sasuke today? As a distraction to get him out of the house!" She said looking away from Itachi._

_"Not quite, I needed Sasuke out of the house yes... But he needs to get stronger, and out of all the ninja's here, I believe you are the best one to train him." Itachi said putting his hand on her shoulder._

_"Thanks... Look, I know that the ANBU are probably tracking you, do you want me to make up a story, that we fought and you got away?" She said looking up at Itachi._

_"If you wouldn't mind, it'll make it easier..." Itachi started, "Hey Lei, can you do something for me."_

_She looked up at Itachi and smiled, "Anything."_

_"Keep an eye on Sasuke for me, make sure he trains hard." Itachi said walking away._

_"Tachi!" She called out, "Thanks for being on my team."_

_Itachi smiled, "It was fun, I hope we can do it again sometime."_

_---_

She could see the four ninja's at Ichiraku Ramen Bar, she had promised to meet up with them. And she would have really liked to, but she needed to get on with her mission from Leader-sama.

She quickly walked over to the Academy, she tested the door and it slowly opened, it probably meant Iruka was working late.

She quickly located the room Iruka was in, and made her way around to the back of the building, towards the stairs that would take her down into the scroll room.

She walked confidently into the room, and spied the old man who looked after the scrolls.

"Down here a little late?" He said straining his eyes to see who it was.

She kept to the shadows, and threw a senbon towards the pressure point that would knock him out. If she had killed him, the Hokage would be notified right away of her presence down here and her mission would be failed.

She worked quickly, finding the scroll she needed, after a few moments she located it. There was a jutsu guarding the scroll, so if she tried to open it without defusing it first, the ink would run and the scroll would be lost. Luckily, the jutsu wasn't a very powerful one and wouldn't take too long to break. She quickly made a clone of the scroll and placed the clone back on the shelf and made her exit.

She decided that it would be nice to drop by Ichiraku Ramen Bar, her excuse for not staying was going to be her mothers death, so she wet her eyes to make it look like she was about to cry.

"Oh look! There she is!" Naruto yelled out once she was close enough.

Kakashi just looked at her, he knew something was wrong even though she was still some distance away from him.

"Is she okay?" Sakura whispered to Sasuke, Sasuke shrugged and looked towards Kakashi.

"Lei, are you alright?" Kakashi said pulling her into a hug, she shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder.

"What's wrong Lei?" he pushed.

"The... Akatsuki... They killed my Mother..." She choked out, a tear running down her face.

"Oh Lei... I'm so sorry..." Kakashi said looking at her, she gave a small smile and pushed herself out of his arms.

"I think... I think I'm going to the Hidden Rock Village, clean up her house, and take what's mine, she had a box full of things for me." She said looking away.

"Yes... Of course, are you leaving now?" Kakashi said looking at her.

"I think I will, if I leave now, I'll get there in a couple of days. I'll see you all when I get back." She said, the act she was putting on was making her feel sick.

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stood up next to Kakashi and wished her luck with her travels, and apologized for her loss.

"Thanks for understanding, I'll have this meal with you when I get back." She said running off into the distance.

---


	8. Chapter 8

---

_She stumbled back into Konoha, to be greeted by the Hokage and several other ANBU Operatives._

_"Leiko Sanigaku! Where is he?" One of the Operatives asked._

_"Gone, I tried... I tried and I failed." She said coughing up some blood, she had gone to a great length to make it look real._

_"Why would Itachi do this! And even harm the one person he saw as an equal." The Hokage mumbled._

_"He was heading north, you could probably apprehend him, if you move quickly." She said falling to the ground._

_"Get a Medical Nin to look her over." Ordered the Hokage as the rest of the ANBU ran off in search for Itachi._

_"I'll be fine, it's Sasuke I'm worried about." She said pushing herself up, the Hokage turned and looked at her._

_"Sasuke is fine, he's just in shock." The Hokage said giving her a helping hand up._

_"Where will he be staying?" She asked standing next to the Hokage._

_"I'm not sure yet, we are yet to make arrangements." He said looking at her puzzled, "Why do you ask?"_

_"I have a large property, although I will not be around all the time, I am offering for Sasuke to stay there until you work out some permeant housing." She said, the Hokage smiled at her and nodded._

_"Your heart is big Leiko, to offer this to Sasuke after his brother has done this to you." _

_"Sasuke has done nothing wrong, he is a small scared child, in need of somewhere to live." She said smiling._

_"I will let you know what is going on as soon as something is worked out, in the meanwhile I would like it if you went and saw a Medical Nin about your injuries." The Hokage said wondering off, to find Sasuke._

_---_

She was almost back at the Akatsuki Lair, she wondered if they had even realised the scroll had gone missing yet, she very much doubted it.

She could see the boulder up ahead, and increased her speed, she couldn't wait to be home and relax around everyone. She arrived at the boulder in a heartbeat, she quickly did the hand signs and the boulder moved out of her way.

She walked into the lounge room with a smile on her face.

"You're back. I was started to wonder if you would or not." Sasori said watching her.

"Well, I had to convince them I was staying there." Leiko said continuing to walk towards Leader-sama's office.

Within minutes, she was standing inside Leader-sama's office handing over the scroll.

"Well done." Leader-sama said taking the scroll.

"There's a holding jutsu on the scroll, it's not a very strong one, but it'll do some damage, if it's not defused." Leiko said looking at the scroll.

"Thank you, what is the security like in Konoha at the moment?" He asked, motioning for her to take a seat.

"Thank you," She started, taking a seat, "If I had to make a judgement, it is all over the place, there were very few ANBU Ops around when I was there, I met none on the way into Konoha, just the regular guards who are always watching the gate."

"So it's well and truly down at the moment then?" He asked deep in thought.

"Yes, they need to decided whether to keep the Special Forces Unit there now that I'm not around, or scrap it. There is a big debate going on about it, the ANBU has basically split in two." Leiko said with a smile, "They are not functioning very well at all."

"This information is very useful, you are dismissed."

Leiko left Leader-sama's office to be face to face with Deidara, "Are you okay? They didn't suspect anything?"

"I'm fine Dei, they had no reason to harm me. Actually, they were quite hospitable and I would consider going there on holidays." Leiko said with a laugh.

"Oh, you're a funny one. So everything went smoothly." Deidara said giving her a hug.

"Yes, just swimmingly." She started, "I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since yesterday."

Deidara nodded and they walked towards the kitchen.

"Well fuck me dead, that's a face I fucking missed." Hidan said as they walked into the kitchen.

"Hello to you to. Whatcha making there?" Leiko said laughing.

"A fucking robot, what does it look like?" Hidan said laughing, "Want me to fucking make you one?"

"Yes please. I'm starving." She said taking a seat at the table.

Before long Hidan dumped a sandwich in front of her, "So how was the mission?"

"Pretty good actually. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I was accepted back into the village instantly." She said taking a bite.

Deidara looked at her, "And Kakashi?"

"Didn't leave my side the whole time I was unconscious." Leiko said with a smile.

Deidara and Hidan exchanged looks, "UNCONSCIOUS?!"

"Yeah, I had to make it look like I had been in a fight with you and Sasori, they bought every word of it." Leiko said eating away at her sandwich.

"You're fucking insane." Hidan said shaking his head.

"Oh Dei, when Sasuke comes to kill Itachi, be aware that he's gonna want to punch you and Sasori." She said laughing at Deidara's confused face.

"... Why?"

"She wouldn't say no to him." Someone said behind her, they turned around to see Itachi and Kisame standing in the doorway.

"Exactly, I keep my promises." Leiko started, "Itachi said to look after Sasuke, and if he wants to punch you guys. He can."

Itachi shook his head and laughed, "You've got a strange idea of what looking after Sasuke is."

"Itachi, we need to get going." Kisame said sounding impatient.

"... Where are you guys off to?" Leiko said standing up in front of Itachi.

"To collect some scrolls from Konoha." Kisame said sounding rather excited.

"Leader-sama said that you said that the security was pretty much down there, so we're going now." Itachi said with a smile.

"Oh, can I give you some pointers, for when you're there?" Leiko said listening to Kisame groan, "Kisame, it's important!"

"Yes, go on." Itachi said ignoring Kisame.

"Okay, the staircase to go under the Academy is located at the back of the building, there is no security on the door. The only security down there is the old man who guards the scrolls." Leiko started.

"Old man? We can take him on!" Kisame said laughing.

"No. He's stronger than you think, but to use his full power he needs to see your face, he drains chakra you see. So if you stay in the shadows, you are safe." She said, only to be interrupted by Kisame again.

"And then we kill him! Easy. Lets go."

Leiko shook her head, "No. Kill him and it alerts the Hokage, but you can knock him out quite easily with a well placed senbon. Find the scrolls you need and clone them. I can't stress this enough! Because if there isn't any weight back in that place on the shelf within three days they will be alerted. But if you just clone the scroll, they will not notice."

Kisame looked at Leiko in disbelief, "How do you know all of this?"

"The Hokage taught it to me when we needed a scroll for more than three days." Leiko said with a shrug.

"Thanks for the help." Itachi said walking out of the room.

"Guess you want you're fucking room now." Hidan said standing up.

"Yup. I sure do." Leiko said following Hidan to his room, Deidara sighed and followed after the two.

"How is it, that even after a mission like that she still has so much energy?" He whispered.

Deidara caught back up to Hidan and Leiko standing in Leiko's new room, checking the place out.

"I can see myself here." Leiko said laughing.

"Oh shut the fuck up about it already." Hidan said in between laughs.

"So, you can take the bed and all of your furnishings. I'll just buy new ones for myself." Leiko said looking around the room.

"Kakuzu wont like that, he keeps complaining that decking out people's rooms is expensive." Deidara said walking in.

"I'll pay for it myself. I have the money." Leiko said dressing the room with her eyes, "Yeah, this place will look good before long."

Hidan glared at her jokingly, "What the fuck are you saying about my fucking taste!"

"Oh nothing Hidan-kun. It's just right for someone like you." She said with a laugh, "But not someone like me who actually has taste."

"Oh for fucks sake Leiko. Stop it already. You're gonna fucking help me move my shit now." Hidan said shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know. I'll get Deidara to do it." Leiko said turning to look at Deidara.

"I'm not doing it! You can't take me alive!" Deidara said running away.

Hidan and Leiko turned and looked at each other, "I think that's a fucking challenge!"

The two of them ran out of the room and down the hall, chasing after Deidara, who was running in every single which way to avoid having to move some furniture.

"Why are you chasing Deidara-senpai?" Tobi called out as they passed him, Hidan kept on running and Leiko stopped for the moment.

"Because we can Tobi. Want to help?" Leiko said, a smirk crossing her face.

"Tobi is a good boy!" He yelled as he ran after Hidan and Deidara.

Leiko caught back up with Hidan, Tobi had almost caught up to Deidara, but was still just out of his reach.

"Why the fuck is he helping us?" Hidan said keeping his eyes peeled.

"Because if we catch Deidara, Tobi can help him move things, and we wont have to lift a finger." Leiko said with a laugh.

"I like your thinking!" He said speeding up.

Before long the three of them had cornered Deidara, and he was watched the three with a worried look on his face.

"Tobi caught Deidara-senpai! Leiko-chan!" Tobi said hugging Deidara.

"Well done Tobi, now we have a prize for you." Leiko said watching Deidara squirm.

"Tobi likes prizes!" He exclaimed, letting go of Deidara.

"You get to help Deidara move all of Hidan's things out of my new room!" Leiko said, imitating Tobi's happy voice.

"Oh great..." Deidara mumbled, the last thing he wanted to do was be stuck with Tobi moving things.

"Does Deidara-senpai not want to move things with Tobi?" He asked looking at Deidara.

"Not really. But I'll do it, because I don't want to get chased again." Deidara said looking at the grins on Hidan's and Leiko's faces.

"Fuck yeah. Come on Leiko, lets get the fuck back to your room... So we can fucking direct them on where the fuck things are going." Hidan said walking off.

"Come on you two, you have a lot of work ahead of you." Leiko said smiling at the two Akatsuki members.

---

_She had just been told the news, Sasuke would be staying with her for the next couple of weeks, until they had worked out a permeant arrangement, or if Sasuke and Leiko agreed, she would become his permeant guardian._

_She was doing a last check over the room she had cleaned up for Sasuke. It was her fathers old room, she had left his favourite art up on the walls, and moved out the last few boxes and put them into storage, it had successfully taken her about two years to fully clean out his room._

_She could have given him the guest room, but it was now being used as a library and she really had no interest in changing the whole house around again, just to avoid cleaning her fathers room. _

_There was a knock on the door, she neatened herself up and opened it, The Hokage and Sasuke were standing in front of her, Sasuke wasn't to amused, but she left that down to the Itachi problem._

_"Hey, Sasuke. Hokage." She said with a slight bow._

_"Thank you again for doing this." The Hokage said putting down one of Sasuke's bags._

_"Look, it's not a problem. I'm just glad I can be of some help, I was quite surprised when he said that he'd live with me. I thought me being so close to Itachi, he was just as likely to hate me as well." She said with a sigh thinking back to their last meeting._

_"I have nothing against you." Sasuke mumbled, looking at the ground._

_"And I have nothing against you either Sasuke, here come in. You're room is the first door on the left, once you've gone up the flight of stairs. I hope you like it." She said moving out of the doorway, Sasuke picked up all his bags and stumbled a little bit._

_"Sasuke, I can carry that for you." She said with a smile._

_Sasuke nodded and put it back down and walked up towards his room._

_"Here, come in. I'll be back with you in a moment." She said picking up Sasuke's last bag and following him up to his room._

_"Sasuke... Do you like it?" She said opening the window, a cool breeze floated into the room._

_Sasuke nodded, "Thank you... You're being very kind." _

_"This was my fathers room, he loved the view, he'd spend hours just looking out the window and painting." She said looking up at one of the various paintings on the walls._

_"Are these his?" Sasuke asked taking a closer look._

_She nodded, "The one across from his bed was his favourite, he always said it was there so he could go to sleep looking at it."_

_"I can see why, it's very beautiful." Sasuke said with a slight smile, it was the first time she had seen him smile since the incident, and she was quite glad that she had been around to witness it._

_"Look, we can paint your room, you can do whatever you feel like to it. But I must go and talk to the Hokage, I have left him waiting downstairs." She said hovering in the doorway._

_"Leiko, I don't plan on being here all that long. I'm going to find and kill Itachi." Sasuke said, those words sending shivers down her spine._

_---_

She followed Tobi and Deidara down the hall and into Hidan's new room, they had been carrying his wardrobe, the final thing to be placed in there.

"Job well done guys." Leiko said smacking them a high five.

"Tobi is a good boy?" Tobi asked enthusiastically, how he still had that much energy was anyone's guess.

"Tobi is a good boy." Leiko said with a laugh, as Deidara collapsed on Hidan's bed.

"Oi! Blondey get the fuck of my bed." Hidan said throwing a shoe at him.

"Fine..." He mumbled, "What are we doing with the mattress?"

"I guess it's going into my room. I need a something to sleep on until I actually get a bed." Leiko said looking around the room.

"We don't have to move it do we?" Deidara said groaning.

"It's okay. I'll move it." Leiko said grabbing hold of one end, "Tobi could you get the other?"

Tobi jumped in the air and ran over to the other end of the mattress, "Tobi is a good boy!"

"Those two are going to be the death of me." Deidara said following them out of the room.

They dropped her bed in the middle of the floor and she just fell backwards onto it.

"Thanks for your help today." She said with a smile.

"That's okay, Miss Sanigaku, after all you did a favour for Itachi and I, not that long ago." Tobi said disappearing out of the door.

"... Madara?" Leiko whispered watching him leave the room.

"Can I come in?" Deidara said with a smile.

"You're already in the room, so it's a rather redundant question." Leiko said returning the smile.

"Here, I made you this." Deidara said pulling out the most beautiful clay bird she had ever seen.

"Deidara! It's beautiful!" Leiko said jumping up and giving him a hug.

"I saw how sad you were about the other one being broken, so I made you a new one..." He said looking away blushing.

"You're too kind Deidara, thank you." She said kissing him on the cheek.

"Lei... " Deidara said blushing even more now.

"Yeah?" Leiko said looking up from the clay bird she was admiring.

"Um... Do you want me to help you move some of your things in here?" Deidara said looking away, silently kicking himself that he didn't say how he truly felt.

"Yeah! Lets go get the stuff now." Leiko said running out of the room.

"You're an idiot." Deidara mumbled to himself.

---


	9. Chapter 9

_The Hokage had asked her to come and see him after a week with Sasuke in her care was over, to evaluate the situation and to see how Sasuke was going._

_"How is he?" The Hokage said motioning for her to take a seat._

_"Yeah, no he's going good. He's training a lot. But I guess I did that as well when my father died, it helps to take your mind off other things." She said thinking back._

_"Ah, and is he settling in well?" He asked watching her carefully._

_"He's settling in well, I think he's really appreciative of the fact he's in my father's room." She said nodding._

_"That's good. We found alternative housing..." The Hokage added in catching her off guard, she really didn't want to part with Sasuke. She was finding it rather nice having someone else in the house, even if she wasn't around all that much._

_"I'd like him to stay with me." She said firmly._

_"Leiko, I must admit you are doing a very big thing for us. But Sasuke needs a home." The Hokage said just as firmly._

_"He has a home! With me! I'm sorry Hokage, but I think the last thing Sasuke needs right now is to be uprooted just as he's starting to feel comfortable around people again!" She said rather loudly._

_"Very well. Sasuke will stay in your care, we will have another meeting in a months time. You are dismissed."_

_She walked out of the room, and found Sasuke standing just next to the door, she gave him a smile._

_"So I'm staying with you then." He asked, looking up at her._

_"You're stuck with me kid." She said scuffling his hair, she had become quite attached to Sasuke over the last week, and was unbelievably happy to hear that she could continue to look after him._

_"You're not mad that I was listening?" Sasuke said moving out of her reach._

_"Nope. First part of being a real ninja, is being able to listen in on other people without anyone else noticing. And you passed." She said smiling, "How about some ramen Sasuke?"_

_"I'd rather train Leiko... If that's okay with you." Sasuke said walking next to her._

_"I think you've done enough training for now. And I'd like to spend some more time with you." She said walking out of the Hokage's building._

_"Fine... But I get to train after we eat." Sasuke said, there was no budging him, he was going to train one way or another._

_"Okay fine. But promise to be home before it gets too dark. Itachi would kill me if something happened to you." She said without realising what she had done._

_"Itachi... I will kill that man" Sasuke said running off._

_"Sasuke! Please stop!" She called out running after him, but it was no use, he wasn't going to stop training now. She'd just have to wait until tonight to spend some time with him._

_---_

Deidara and her and finished arranging all the art on the wall, when Sasori came in, "What beautiful artworks..."

"Thanks, they're my Fathers, my own work, and Deidara's. They were in the box that my mother gave to Deidara to bring back for me." She said looking at the wall.

"... Deidara?" Sasori said trying to work out which was Deidara, "It's the one of you isn't it."

Deidara nodded, "I painted it for her... for her thirteenth birthday... Oh Lei, I almost forgot!"

"Almost forgot what...?" She said looking quite puzzled.

"You're mother, she had found this." Deidara said handing her what looked to be a small suitcase, she opened it up and her eyes opened wide as she realised what it was.

"It's the watercolour set you gave me!" She said staring in amazement that her mother had been able to find it, one of the neighbourhood boys had stolen from her a week after Deidara had given it to her, and she hadn't seen it since.

"Leiko, who is this by?" Sasori said pointing at one of her fathers paintings her mother had given her.

"It's my Father's artwork... Hang on! I have another one." She said grabbing for one of her scrolls.

Sasori looked at her in shock, when he saw one of the most beautiful paintings he had ever seen.

She placed it out on the bed, "This was my Father's favourite painting out of all the ones he ever did. It hung on the wall opposite his bed, so he could go to sleep every night looking at it... Or so he said."

Laying in front of them, was the most vibrant sunset Sasori had ever seen, it was a beach with a small girl running, her white frock flying behind her in the wind, the colours were so rich and beautiful Sasori saw it almost as a crime to be hanging here were very few people would see it.

"That's a beautiful painting..." Sasori said looking at it, "Is the girl you?"

Leiko nodded, "Yeah, first and last trip to the beach. It was a magical sunset, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

"Well, your father made it look magnificent." Sasori said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you... I think I'll put it across from my bed... So I can see it every night." She said walking up to the wall to hang it.

"Was your house full of his paintings?" Sasori said helping her balance the painting as she put it up.

"Yes, and my own... Although, they're all gone now." She said looking away.

"When you're house..." Sasori said sounding almost as pained as Leiko had.

"I couldn't bring them with me... But I brought this one, which is all that matters to me really. This was my favourite, and his." She said with a smile.

"Well, dinner's ready if you'd like to come eat." Sasori said leaving the room.

"You really loved his paintings didn't you." Deidara said giving her a hug.

"Yeah, I spent hours looking at them. I feel bad now that they're gone." She said hiding her face in Deidara's cloak.

"Don't. Because you gave them the best exit, any painting could have asked for. You know what your father was like, once he got tired of a painting he painted over the top of it. But that's not the right exit for art you'd always tell him, and he'd agree with you, but it was the easiest way for him to get rid of them." Deidara said kissing her forehead.

"Dei..." Leiko whispered blushing.

Deidara smiled, "Lei... I haven't stopped loving you since I left that day..." He finally blurted out.

Leiko looked at him shocked, "Dei... I-I-I" She couldn't speak, nothing was coming out, she wanted to tell him how much she loved his as well, but she was just in shock.

Deidara looked away and picked up her hand, "Lets go to dinner." He said saddened.

---

_Sasuke had been living with her for a year now, he had never quite unpacked his bags, and he had never done anything to change his bedroom. But now he was standing at the front door with his bags, ready to leave._

_"Thank you for everything Leiko." He said with a bow, "But I believe it would be better for me... If I went and lived on my own."_

_"I understand Sasuke, but really. You don't have to leave." She said looking at the ground, she had thought of Sasuke has her own little brother, and seeing him leave was really painful._

_"I know Leiko. But I need to do this for myself." He said with a smile, he had grown so much since he had moved in with her, from the little boy who wouldn't smile, to a boy who would now smile when he saw it fit to._

_"Do you know where you're going?" She asked, trying to find a flaw in his plan._

_"Yes. The building Naruto lives it, has a flat for sale... I asked the landlord about it, and he said I could have it." Sasuke said picking up his bags._

_"Well, you seem set... Hang on a moment!" She said running back up the stairs and returning with a painting._

_"Leiko, what's this?" Sasuke said taking it from her hands._

_"You seemed to have enjoyed looking at it, so you can have it." She said, taking a look at the painting one last time._

_It was of a valley, where two statutes stood face to face, ready for battle. The Valley of the End._

_"Thank you, Leiko." Sasuke said giving her a slight hug._

_"Really, it's not an issue. I'm happy that you will take it." She said smiling at Sasuke who just couldn't take his eyes off the painting._

_"I've got to get going, I have to meet with the landlord in about ten minutes." Sasuke said picking up his bags again._

_"Okay. Be careful, and the door is always open for you to come back. Even if you just want to catch up." Leiko said watching him walk down the path._

_"Thanks again!" Sasuke called back, looking at the house for one last time._

_She shut the door and smiled, she was happy because she was keeping an eye on Sasuke, better than what Itachi could have ever hoped for._

_---_

Itachi and Kisame had arrive back at the Akatsuki lair looking completely unscathed.

"Tachi, Kisame you're back. I trust it went well." She said walking towards Leader-sama's office with them.

Itachi nodded, "Everything went fine, you were right when you said the security was down, we walked right in without a trouble." Kisame nodded in agreement as they walked into Leader-sama's office.

Down the hall she spied Deidara, he had been avoiding her the last few days, and she felt really bad about it. She had wanted to tell him how she felt, but nothing came out when she had tried. She sighed and looked away, before long Itachi and Kisame left Leader-sama's office.

"Lei, find Deidara, Leader-sama wants you." Itachi started, "He will explain when your are in there."

She nodded and ran off in towards Deidara's room.

He was laying on his bed, when she entered, "Dei, Leader-sama wants us."

He looked at her and gave a small smile, "Okay. I'm coming." And he walked straight past her.

She caught back up, "Dei... I'm sorry." She whispered, Deidara obviously didn't hear, as he didn't stop until they had arrived at Leader-sama's office who ordered them in as soon as they arrive.

"Leiko, Deidara, you are to go to Konoha and capture Naruto Uzumaki and bring him back here."

"But isn't that Itachi's and Kisame's job?" Deidara asked questionably.

"They have just arrive back from their mission, and with Konoha's security down, this is the best time to attack." Leader-sama started, "And we need you to travel fast, and clay bird is faster than foot."

Deidara nodded, "Fine."

"Okay." Leiko said, "One Naruto Uzumaki."

"You are to leave at once. You are dismissed." Leader-sama said, his voice ringing around the room.

They were outside the base and Deidara was already on the clay bird.

"Ready?" Deidara asked, she could here the subtle angry tones in his voice.

"Only if you are." She said climbing onboard, she could already tell that it was going to be a long ride.

They took off, and within minutes and awkward silence had fallen over the top of the two of them.

They were flying high above the forests, and night was about to fall before either of them spoke.

"How are we going to do this?" Deidara finally asked.

"I was thinking, that I could go in first. They'll just think I've come back from my trip to the Hidden Rock Village. I'll find Naruto, and talk about training him, too get his skills up. And I'll lead him back here, and we can leave." She said thinking it through.

"Will it go that easily?" Deidara said already starting to look worried.

"It should do, the only thing that could go wrong would be Kakashi, but he shouldn't be around with Naruto, once it hits nightfall. Land in that clearing there, we can make the rest of the journey on foot." She said pointing at a clearing.

"You'll need something to make it look like you've been at your mothers house..." Deidara took a clump of clay and molded into a box, "It can explode if you run into some trouble." He said handing it to her.

"Thanks. I'll need you to wait in the training ground, hidden in the shadows. Just encase." She said moving off.

---


	10. Chapter 10

_It was her latest mission, there had been word that Itachi had been hanging around the village, she accepted the mission and headed off straight away._

_Her team was working alright, but there were whispers that they would all quit after this mission, something about working them too hard._

_She spied Itachi in a dense bit of forestry, she told her team to split up and look elsewhere in the area, they did what they were told and she was left alone watching Itachi._

_"Lei, I know you're there."_

_She nodded, "I expected nothing less from you Tachi."_

_She jumped down from the tree and they stood their face to face._

_"Shouldn't you have a team?" Itachi said looking around her._

_"I should, I sent them away, and we don't work to well together. They're planning on quitting." She said with a smile._

_"Just like old times then?" Itachi said returning the smile._

_"Yeah, how are things going in the Akatsuki?" She said pointing to his cloak, and he shrugged._

_"It'd be better if you were there." _

_---_

She was making her way through Konoha in search of Naruto, she checked his apartment first, but he wasn't there. She thought for a moment, "Please don't let him at Ichiraku..." She whispered to herself.

She made her way over there, and there he was, with Kakashi.

"Great, as if my predicament couldn't get worse." She mumbled, as Kakashi turned around.

"Lei! You're back!" He said pulling her into a hug.

"Mmm... Yeah. I need to talk to Naruto." She said pushing away from Kakashi.

Naruto turned around at the mention of his name, "Yeah?"

"I'd like to do some training with you. Right now." She said concentrating.

"Um... Okay?" Naruto said jumping off the stool.

"May I come? I could help?" Kakashi said standing next to her.

"I'd rather if you didn't." She said clutching the box.

"Please Leiko! I'd like to show Kakashi how much I've improved!" Naruto beamed, a few strangers had stopped and looked at him.

"Fine. As long as he doesn't interfere." She said with a smile.

"I would never! I can't believe you'd even suggest something like that!" Kakashi said with a laugh as they made their way over to the training ground.

She spied Deidara hiding in the shadows and hoped Kakashi and Naruto wouldn't do the same thing.

"Okay, I need you to focus, and think about moving the kunai, to that tree over there. But you are to do it, with the lightest flick of the wrist, so you can save your physical power. You have ten kunai's and I'll go down there and tell you how close you're getting." Leiko said running down towards where Deidara was hiding, "START!"

"What is he doing here?" Deidara whispered when she was close enough.

"You're about five feet off Naruto!" She called back watching him throw another one.

"He followed us, ABOUT THE SAME, but I've left the box next to him." She said talking to both Naruto and Deidara.

Naruto threw another kunai, and it landed in the tree with a thunk.

"You got it Naruto, but I saw too much power. Try less." She called back.

"I'm going to make it explode..." Deidara whispered getting excited.

"Be my guest, it'll knock them both out hopefully, make the whole thing easier." She whispered back with a smile on her face.

"Explode!" Deidara said, watching the explosion erupt around Kakashi and Naruto.

The smoke cleared, and Naruto had been tossed a few meters away from them, and was out cold. Kakashi was still near the box, and had suffered the same fate.

Deidara ran over to Naruto's body and checked his pulse, "He's still alive." He called out.

"Good, is the bird ready?" She asked watching Kakashi with a great deal of unease.

"It can be in a moment." Deidara said, moments later he was making a bird, "Lei, I don't have enough clay for all three of us!"

"How much do you have?" She called back, watching as Kakashi started to move a little.

"Enough for two. Well you guys go, I'll get out once you leave." She said backing away from Kakashi.

"I'm not leaving you. I'll just leave Naruto!" He said, as a bird appeared in front of him.

"Leader-sama wont like that." She said, horrified that Kakashi was trying to stand up, "GO! Kakashi is awake!"

There was silence, before a very forceful hand fell onto her shoulder and flipped her around, "No. I said no."

"Dei, please..." She said getting worried that Kakashi would be fully awake in a moment.

"Lei! Get away from him!" A voice rang out around her, she stood there shell shocked before letting out a small laugh, which grew and grew.

"Oh poor Kakashi, are you really that stupid to see what's going on?" She spat out standing next to Deidara, Kakashi looked at her and stepped forward.

"What has he done to you! The Lei I know wouldn't do this." Kakashi said out walking closer and closer.

Leiko shook her head, "Kakashi, after years of heartbreak, you tend to grow attached to certain things."

"But he killed your mother!" Kakashi said looking for a flaw in what she was saying.

"She was getting old, going blind... Even beautiful people deserve to go out with a bang!" Leiko said with a laugh, she wasn't entirely sure what was coming over her. But whatever it was, she liked it.

Kakashi looked at her shocked, "You never went to the Hidden Rock Village did you?"

She shook her head, "Sure didn't. I've been at the Akatsuki lair ever since I left."

Kakashi shook his head, he didn't want to believe what she was saying, "But you came back! I let you back in! Even after Tsunade said not to."

"You should have listened to her Kakashi. Notice any scrolls gone missing lately?" She said laughing.

Deidara was pulling on her arm to get her to leave, "Lei, please we need to go now."

"Soon, I'm not done here yet." She said looking at Kakashi.

"Leave Naruto." He said forcibly.

"Oh, no I don't think I will. Remember, when you said the next time we meet would be in battle. You better be ready for me!" Leiko said running forward at Kakashi who narrowly dodged.

"Lei! Please!" He called out dodging her attacks left, right and centre.

"STOP HOLDING BACK!" She called out doing some hand signs, around her appeared multiple clones of herself.

She continued doing hand signs, "Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu - Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

She watched as the clones she had made, were finding their way underground, Kakashi had seen her use this technique against rouge ninja's who had made their way into the village, but it wasn't this move that had him worried, it was the following combination. He continued to move around the field, in hope to shake off the clones, but one wrong placed foot proved that even he could fall to the Decapitation Technique.

The clones grabbed his ankle and pulled him down into the ground, making him immobilized.

"Please Lei! Stop it!" He called out wriggling in hope that the ground might just give.

Leiko shook her head and continued on with the hand signs, "Gouryuuka no Jutsu - Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Kakashi looked up at the dragon head, and saw the multitude of fireballs raining about to rain down on him. He continued to wriggle. Something underneath him gave, but he wouldn't be able to escape in time to miss the fireballs.

He waited for the fireballs to hit, closing his eyes and thinking of other things.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu - Great Fireball Technique!" Someone from behind him, the force of the Great Fireball and the Great Dragon Fire, hitting against each other resulted in an explosion.

"Sasuke." Leiko said watching him.

"I never thought this day would come." He said in a bitter voice.

Kakashi kept wriggling and eventually made his way out of the hole.

"Times change Sasuke. And you will learn that all to well." She said with a laugh.

"Fight me." Sasuke said ignoring Kakashi's pleads.

"How bout, I fight you both? After all, Kakashi and I started something here." She said waiting for Sasuke's reply.

He nodded and started running through hand signs, "Housenka no Jutsu - Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique!"

"Doryuu Heki - Earth Style Wall!" Leiko yelled as a wall erupted in front of her, stopping the on coming fire and kunai from getting to her, "Sasuke, you've been training."

"Sasuke, this is between myself and Leiko. Please, move out of the way." Kakashi said pulling Sasuke away from the fight. After a silent protest he moved behind Kakashi, to help, just encase he needed it.

"Leiko, I didn't pin you as the kind to hide behind a wall." Kakashi said in a mocking tone.

"I also didn't picture you to get trapped in a hole so easily." She shot back with the same mocking tone.

"Neither did I for you." Kakashi said with a laugh, a hole opened down around her ankle, she was forcibly pulled down, and rendered immobilized.

"Well done." Leiko said, the wall in front of her fell down.

Kakashi walked up close to her, pulling up the forehead protector covering his left eye. Leiko immediately averted her eyes, although he could still hold people with his eye, looking away wasn't going to do much if he decided to send her to another dimension.

"Lei, what's come over you." His voice sending a shiver down her spine.

"You see Kakashi, "She started in a small voice, "I found someone who wants to be on my team!" She yelled her voice getting louder, she could see a small trail of ants wondering towards Kakashi's feet. She gave a small smile as one by one they started to explode, she wriggled around a little bit, the explosion had made the hole in the ground expand and she climbed out of it quickly.

Sasuke ran forward throwing kunai's and surriken's at both Leiko and Deidara who dodged them with ease.

"Sasuke, stay back!" Kakashi said slowly standing up.

Kakashi was trying to get Sasuke to stay back, so Leiko took this as her chance to catch him off guard.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu - Great Fireball Technique!"

Kakashi turned around just in time to see a massive fireball hurtling towards him, he quickly performed a few hand signals, causing a log to take his place in the assault.

Leiko paused and looked around her, she couldn't see Kakashi anywhere, he had hidden himself up in the tree's out of sight.

"Lei lets go now." Deidara called pulling her towards the clay bird, she nodded and moved towards the bird, but not before she heard aloud noise growing closer and closer behind her. She turned around to see Kakashi running towards her at high speeds, with Lightning Blade at the ready.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NEVER TO TURN YOUR BACK IN BATTLE!" Kakashi screamed, landing Lightning Blade right across her heart.

She fell to the ground, and Kakashi walked away from her, "Leave Naruto, and I'll let you take her."

Deidara nodded and pushed Naruto off the clay bird, he picked up Leiko and could feel the faintest heartbeat.

---


	11. Chapter 11

---

_"I hear your team quit on you." Kakashi said paying for her ramen._

_"Yeah, I heard something like that too. I also heard they died, not sure who made up that one." She said with a laugh._

_"You do realise you've been through three teams in about a month." Kakashi said looking at her._

_She nodded, "I know. But I guess this will keep happening till I get the right team. How's Sasuke?"_

_Kakashi laughed at her, "He's good, training too hard."_

_"You know that he wants to kill Itachi right." She said watching Kakashi._

_"Yes. He said something about that today. Is that why you didn't come back from your mission with Itachi in a body bag?" Kakashi said in between mouthfuls of ramen._

_"Yes, I'm not going to get in the way of Sasuke's dream." She said taking a mouthful of her ramen._

_The two ate in silence before she spoke again, "I miss having him around..."_

_"Who Sasuke? He lives down the road from you Lei. I'm sure he'd love a visit from you." Kakashi watched as she shook her head._

_"No, Itachi." There was a pause before Kakashi spoke again._

_"Lei, I know you do... But you always manage to pull through. You'll do it again." Kakashi said putting his hand on her shoulder._

_She nodded, "Kaka... Wanna be on my team?"_

_Kakashi smiled, "You never stop asking do you?"_

_"Nope!" She said with a smile, "I'm going to keep asking until you say yes."_

_---_

Deidara was carrying one unconscious Leiko into the Akatsuki lair, "HELP!" He yelled as he burst into the lounge room. Itachi jumped to his feet and saw Leiko in his arms.

"Is she...?" He asked staring at her limp figure.

Deidara shook his head, "She has a faint heartbeat. But I'm not sure how long she'll be able to hold on."

"Um... Here put her on the couch, Kisame go find Kakuzu!" Itachi said cleaning up the couch.

Deidara placed her down on the couch and watched in awe as Itachi took over the whole situation.

Sasori walked into the room, "What's all the commotion?" He spied Leiko laying on the couch, "She's not dead is she?"

Itachi shook his head, "Kisame's gone to find Kakuzu."

"Itachi, didn't Kakuzu and Hidan go bounty hunting this morning?" Itachi's eyes opened wide as he realised what Sasori had said, they had no doctor, the one time they really needed one.

Kisame ran back into the lounge room, "Itachi, he's no where to be found."

Itachi checked her pulse, it was still there but it was getting weaker and weaker, "Sasori... We need... We need some adrenaline."

Sasori nodded and walked away, Kisame looked at Itachi, "How do you know that will work?"

"I'm hoping." He said as Deidara looked up at him, "Don't worry, she's strong. She'll pull through."

The door in the lounge room opened and Kakuzu stormed in followed by a angry Hidan, "Fucking Kakuzu and his fucking bounty hunting that gets us fucking no where!"

Kakuzu saw Leiko laying on the couch, "Itachi... What's going on?"

"She's dying!" Deidara cried out, everyone looked at him, "Kakashi's lighting blade struck her, over her heart..."

Kakuzu pushed everyone out of his way, and checked her pulse, "Deidara, how long has she been out?"

Deidara thought for a moment, "About half an hour, I got here as soon as I could." He looked up when Sasori came back into the room.

Kakuzu listened carefully to her heartbeat, it was slowly down and beating at irregular intervals.

"Kakuzu, here. It's adrenaline." Sasori said handing him a syringe.

He took the syringe and injected it's contents into her arm, "This should wake her up."

There was a long silence in the room, Leiko slowly opened her eyes, and everyone breathed a breath of relief.

"Deidara... I'm sorry...." She mumbled incoherently.

"It wont last long, and she probably wont make it. So I suggest everyone says their goodbyes now." Kakuzu said walking out of the room.

Hidan pushed in front of everyone, "You could join Jashin, you'd be safe then!"

"No! She'll become a puppet!" Sasori said pushing Hidan out of the way.

Itachi moved in front of them while they continued their bickering on how best to save Leiko.

"Tachi... Sasuke... He's gotten strong." She said with a smile. Itachi looked at her and smiled.

"Lei, thanks for looking out for him. You've done well." He said motioning for Deidara to talk to her.

Deidara moved and grabbed hold of her hand, as Leader-sama's face appeared on the wall.

"Deidara, Leiko. Report to my office now." And as soon as he had appeared, he had disappeared.

Itachi looked at Deidara, as he slowly stood up, walking away from everyone, avoiding eye contact.

"Deidara..." Leiko whispered, Itachi drew closer.

"Lei, he'll be back soon. I promise." Itachi said holding onto her hand.

She felt herself getting weaker, she was struggling to breathe, and everything was slowly getting blurry.

"Tachi!" she called out, panic running across her face, "I can't breathe!"

Itachi looked at her, and looked towards the door, Deidara was still nowhere to be seen, "Lei, I'm right here, calm down."

She nodded slowly and tried to breathe, every breath she took was shorter and sharper as it entered her lungs.

"Tachi... Can you do something for me?"

Itachi looked at her, and nodded, "Anything."

"Tell, Deidara that I love him." She closed her eyes, and drew her last breath.

Itachi shook her, looking for a pulse, Sasori and Hidan stopped bickering and looked over at the panicked Uchiha, "LEI! TELL HIM YOURSELF!" He was screaming, shaking her, hoping that somehow she'd wake back up from the endless sleep.

Sasori turned around to see Deidara in the doorway, he could hear Itachi's screams from half way down the hall and had run the rest of the way.

Itachi looked up, and saw tears in Deidara's eyes, "No! It can't be!" He said running over to the couch.

Deidara shook Leiko, Itachi moved away, watching Deidara, "Lei! Wake up! Your joke isn't funny anymore!" He was shouting.

"Deidara, she's gone." Sasori said, getting cold looks from everyone.

"She can't be..." Deidara turned back and looked at Leiko's body, laying limp on the couch.

"Deidara, she wanted me to tell you something..." Itachi said quietly.

"What!" Deidara snapped back, watching the Uchiha.

"She told me to tell you... That she loved you..." Itachi said crumbling to the floor.

A tear ran down Deidara's face, as he pulled the Akatsuki ring off her finger and replaced it with a different ring, "I love you too Lei."

---

_"Mother that's a very pretty ring you have." She said admiring her mother's ring._

_"Your Father gave it to me, when we got engaged. Someday you'll have one just as nice." Her mother said thinking back on the moment._

_

* * *

_

_**Okay, I know that this fanfiction wasn't really all that long. But to make up for that, I will write some OneShots off this if you like. I'll keep the poll open for a month or so, and at the end of the month, I will write a OneShot, if not two. Depends on how the results pan out.**_

_Thanks for reading =]_

_Reviews would be nice, but I don't expect them._

**Cheers,**

**PinkSpiderFelix**


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